The perfect crime

Most of the dramatic tension in the novel derives from the ever-escalating audacity of the crimes committed by Tracy Whitney. Her career as a criminal, con artist, and master of disguise has a plausible unreality about it. She seems to go from one perfect crime to another, if the "perfect crime" is defined by success in eluding arrest. Her nemesis is Daniel Cooper, whose intuition strongly tells him almost precisely when, where and how she will attempt her next caper, but somehow Tracy is just a little more cunning and a little luckier than Cooper can imagine. Tracy is so successful in her thefts of precious gems that European authorities believe there is a crime wave perpetrated by a gang of women underway. Tracy uses her imagination in pulling off these ripoffs, and never repeats herself, unlike many criminals whose patterns of crime eventually lead to...