Sweet, Sweet Poison

August 1, 1990
First victim in this fresh, entertaining mystery is a watchdog named Sadie, owned by Al and Sylvie Zukal, two likable, spectacularly vulgar kvetches from the Bronx who invested some recent lottery winnings on a rural estate in Spender's Ferry, N.Y. After the Zukals' young friend David dies, the well-oiled, older detective team of Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl ( Small House ; The Hamlet Trap ) begins to question the conclusions of the local sheriff, who labels these and additional inventive killings--by poison, drugs, bees and gas--accident or suicide. Charlie and Constance turn up a barrelfull of suspects: kingmaker Warren Wollander; his childish daughter and her latest guru, a smarmy evangelist; and a gaggle of agrarian scientists, including Warren's wife. The smooth, easy appeal of SF writer Wilhelm's blend of suspense and humor goes awry only in her hamfisted portrait of the Zukals.