Book Review: Guilty Mind

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Guilty Mind     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Irene Marcuse
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Amateur Sleuth
Series: Anita Servi # 2
Walker, May 2001, $23.95, 240 pp.

When their baby-sitter Ellen fails to pick up her seven-year-old child Clea, Anita Servi becomes angry and concerned because this is not like her. Anita and Clea go to Ellen's mew apartment only to find the recent Barnard graduate dead. Anita dials 911 and her old friend Detective Michael Dougherty heads the investigation.

The evidence clearly points towards Anita's husband Benno. He not only escorted her home the night before the murder, but his fingerprints are on the screwdriver that killed Ellen. Anita knows her spouse came home late that night, but accepted his word that they found a throwaway bookcase during the walk, which he fixed, for Ellen to use. Anita makes her own inquiries that lead her to doubts about the faithfulness of Benno and even his innocence.

GUILTY MIND is an enjoyable Upper Manhattan mystery that provides readers a taste of the Morningside Heights-Harlem sections of the Big Apple. The story line is fun as amateur sleuth Anita expects to prove the innocence of Benno, but keeps finding evidence of guilt instead. Irene Marcuse's latest Servi novel works because the key cast remains fresh while starring in an entertaining tale.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner