It Happens in the Dark (A Mallory Novel)
This latest addition to the popular Mallory series, launched in 1995 with Mallory’s Oracle, seems almost like a send-up of the tough detective novel, so over the top are Mallory’s appearances and other people’s reactions to her. Kathy Mallory is an NYPD detective whose beauty and insight overwhelm everyone. As does her rudeness: Mallory’s way of ordering people around more befits a traffic cop than a detective. This one has a Broadway background: two deaths occur in two nights in the audience of a play; the second one is that of the playwright. O’Connell resurrects the Phantom of the Opera device of having notes delivered to the actors; here, someone writes threats and directions on a backstage blackboard. This does intensify the suspense but in a somewhat formulaic way. Not at the level of some other Mallory mysteries but necessary reading for devoted fans. --Connie Fletcher