THE WIFE OF A LESSER MAN is partly narrated by Shelly Tame, happily married to a loving, sexy, hard-working police chief. Mark suffers a major heart attack one day. Fortunately, with good care, he recovers. Changing his diet is a sensible step, and he never smoked or drank. Not everything returns to normality however and their love life suffers.

With all-round support Mark is back at work, handling routine cases and visiting murder scenes. A woman named Karen Reed is found shot dead in her own home, and it looks as though the killer was someone she knew. This is how a police chief spends the Thanksgiving period. The victim is missing a bracelet from her effects, which is visible in a photo of her. A jewelery store however assesses the image as 'run of the mill Swarovski' which is not much help... unless the killer has taken it as a token. When a similar shooting occurs the prospect of a serial killer sends chills through the department and draws intense media coverage, keeping Mark on his feet. Meanwhile, Shelly gets asked out for a drink by the well-built new yoga instructor. She thanks him, just saying she's married, but for how long can she resist temptation?

I disliked being unable to find a location for this story. Possibly the author Sandy Appleyard is so familiar with her setting that it does not occur to her that readers elsewhere would like details; even a state would do. Descriptions are bland: a street block, a station house, no fine points such as adobe, stucco, gingerbread, steel and glass. The weather is cold in November but no plants are mentioned. Food mainly consists of turkey, no local dishes.

The story is well thought-out and peopled by very human characters, removing it from the typical crime story. Crime scene details are plentiful, if not always pleasant. Followers of procedural crime stories will be keen to read this and there are interesting personal dilemmas. I just felt that THE WIFE OF A LESSER MAN could have been better.

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