From Publishers Weekly This earnest， awkward first novel features a standard character (an ex-cop with an alcohol problem) in an unexceptional story (he's talked into investigating a murder by his father， a famous gossip columnist whom he hates). Ventry (no first name given) has retired to upstate New York to indulge his passion for painting. The dead man is a neighbor and a noted painter whose wife happens to have made the sole purchase at Ventry's recent show. Such coincidences keep cropping up amid a plethora of over-written dialogue during the almost random investigation by Ventry and his newfound Australian love， whose missing young cousin may be the murderer or yet another victim. A shady antiques dealer， a smooth-talking con man， a high-powered lawyer and his randy young wife are among the usual suspects， but readers who subscribe to the "least likely candidate" school of thought will pin the real killer by mid-book. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information， Inc.