Simon Rose was a forensic psychologist who was drawn into a bizarre murder case by his previous knowledge of the defendant Janice Jensen, an attractive woman with whom he had been sexually involved in his youth. After Janice had been deemed certifiably insane and was a patient in a psychiatric hospital, she wrote a friendly note to Simon suggesting that she’d like to see him. This troubled him a great deal. Despite the fact that he had declined to participate in her defense, he found it hard to stop his preoccupation with her or with trying to figure out her story.

Here was a psychological intrigue full of quirky yet interesting characters. My favorite was Tupelo, Simon’s talking pet dog. The author used a flip kind of humor to tell his tale. I found it entertaining, but often felt that he was talking to other men rather than a coed group of readers. Nevertheless this was one of those thrilling “I can’t put it down til I’m done" kind of stories. I was truly saddened to learn that the author is no longer alive to write more such thrillers. This book was a joy to read.