How to Succeed in Murder
Margaret Dumas
Poisoned Pen, May 2006, $24.95, 276 pp.
ISBN: 1590582608

In San Francisco, theatre producer Charley Fairfax and her spouse private investigator Jack meet Morgan Stokes, CEO of Zadkan, for lunch. Before the meal Charley pleads with Jack not to take a case involving computer geeks like Stokes. Ignoring his beloved, Jack agrees to investigate who murdered his fianc e Clara Chen the firms brilliant Vice President of Client Knowledge (a more interactive technical support cell).

Charley persuades Jack to let her go undercover as an employee at Zadkan, though his heiress wife cannot use a computer beyond turning on the CPU and monitor. However, even though she does speak the vernacular of the office, everyone assumes she is a genius, though no one knows at what. When someone tries to kill her, Jack panics; when their families talk about infants Jack goes into cardiac arrest, but never loses sight of keeping Charley safe while uncovering a killer who has murdered again.

Mindful of a modern day Thin Man due to the interplay between high society Charley and cynical Jack, HOW TO SUCCEED IN MURDER is a fine investigative tale. The whodunit is cleverly devised, as the audience will wonder who the culprit and why. However, this fun mystery belongs to the newlyweds and the eccentric theatrical cast who turn Jack upside down and flatten Nob Hill.