Murder in the Air (Sophie Greenway)

In 1958, Justin Bloom supposedly killed his girl friend and fled the area. This led to a public scandal and outrage towards the prominent family. Most people believed what they read in the papers since the eye witness to the shooting was a well respected police officer. Forty years have passed and Justin has never been found. Most people believe that he is dead. His mother Heda has just bought a Minnesota radio station where Bram Baldric is a talk show host. Brian is married to Sophie Greenway, owner of the plush Maxfield Plaza Hotel. Heda is reviving the old radio serial, Dallas Lane, Private Eye. The show airs weekly, but in actuality is a thinly disguised version of the Bloom case. All the participants from four decades ago are living in the area and many star in the show. It is obvious that the more information that is presented, the more agitated the players become. Bram and Sophie begin to realize that Heda is trying to prove that her son is innocent by providing his account of what happened all those years ago. This is one show that is making someone very edgy, enough so that someone else connected to the case is murdered. Ellen Hart is a great mystery writer who creates innovative stories. In this case, every few chapters, a letter is sent from Justin to his mother that gradually explains how the chief suspect sees that fatal day. Readers receive a brilliantly developed historical perspective with a contemporary resolution. There are plenty of red herrings, double identities, and sleight of the hand incidents to keep readers fully absorbed in MURDER IN THE AIR, a who-done-it that should earn Ms. Hart another award. Harriet Klausner