But Nellie Was So Nice

Nellie Hand is a pleasant middleaged saleslady in a New York Village boutique, loved by all and trusted confidante of many. She lives modestly in an apartment block peopled by diverse Village characters, and numbers among her friends, people as varied as a president of a major corporation to a forger of well known paintings. Several plots unfold, improbable as they seem in such an innocuous setting--a young girl who is trying to hide a large amount of cash, the proceeds of a robbery, a man who confides in Nellie that he committed murder some years ago and Nellie herself, trying to spark a romance between a beautiful ex-model and her nephew. Her brutal murder stuns everybody as such a crime seems pointless. Her nephew, a well known photographer, begins to investigate her death and slowly a picture starts to form, incriminating friends who have no apparent reason to do her harm. It's a simple tale, filled with interesting characters.

This is an excellent mystery that reminds me quite a lot of Ruth Rendell's books. Mcmullen introduces us to Nellie, an ordinary middleaged lady with many friends. She builds up the supense from the first page on. The characters are very interesting and realistic. The ending was rather a surprise to me, a good plot.