As always, John Putnam Thatcher, vice president of Sloan Guaranty Trust, is wise, urbane, and tolerant. Over the years he has become somewhat more removed from the concerns and ways of the young; a visit with his daughter and her extended family leaves him happy to return to his quiet widower's life, and he clearly appreciates the mature personality of Eleanor Gough more than the dynamic youth of Phoebe Fournier. For the first time in the series, an important part of the detective work is actually done by one of the other characters.

Of the Sloan staff, only Everett Gabler plays as large a role as usual, traveling to Boston to use his formidable accounting skills to ferret out secrets in the victim's financial records. The other Sloan characters put in only cameo appearances when Thatcher checks in at his home office, and they play no part in...