A beautiful Brazilian woman is found dead, strangled just like three other women had been ten years previously. The questions, of course, are whether the killer had struck again, it was a copycat, or just a coincidence. This brings into play a whole group of possible suspects. Not obvious one is a guy named Merrill, whose Rolex was found at the scene. He is in a tense marriage with an advice columnist for a local newspaper. There are other culpable characters as well. A man who runs a lovely old hotel, whose mother is kept in a room as she suffers from cancer. There is a tobacco executive who works with Merrill, whose livelihood is profoundly affected by this murder. There is a man who has a drawer full of neckties (the murder weapon in the previous cases). Also, an inspector, a predecessor of Tom Barnaby, who can't let go of a case that was never solved. The pieces are neatly arranged with several other adjacent characters who are carrying on their lives. Once again, the writing is superb and the craftsmanship neat and tidy. There is also a fun subplot where Mrs. Barnaby visits her mother and Cully, the daughter, tries to please her father, dealing with the same tunnel vision that her long suffering mother must put up with.