Find The Woman is a 1962 mystery by classic author Doris Miles Disney, whose many titles since 1945 were bestsellers, being filmed and adapted for TV. Her books were often reprinted, at times there was one republished each year.
This is her 28th of 47 novels.
A car dealer gets a police call in the middle of the night. A Dr. Chandler who borrowed his Buick has been found drowned in Moosehead Lake, his wallet and chequebook in the glove box. Dr. Chandler often took fishing weekends at the lake - this time he packed his own bag but brought no fishing equipment - was this an accident or suicide? The police take Chandler's wife up to the Maine lake to identify the body and the dealer follows to retrieve the car.
The story switches to insurance investigator Jeff DiMarco, a character in several Doris Miles Disney mysteries. As adjuster for Commonwealth Assurance Company, he begins to look into the case before paying the policy. Suicide or accident - it makes a difference - an accidental death pays double indemnity. Or, could it possibly be murder?
DiMarco has an unhurried approach. He takes a lakeside cabin and dines at the popular resort Tryon's, where Dr. Chandler stayed. Interviewing staff, he meets ex-waitress Marie, popular with several men, recuperating with a broken arm. He drives over to Little Lake, where a couple are renovating cabins for next season, although the wife Lisa hates the forest and would rather be in Florida. They are newlyweds - her first husband tragically died at Moosehead lake just last year, around the time someone started blackmailing Dr. Chandler.
Mrs. Chandler seems genuinely saddened, although her husband was an aggressive alcoholic who played around - his empty chequing account another in a line of disappointments.
DiMarco finds time to go fishing, visit a nearby town, travel back to Boston to confer with his boss. He works easily with the police, who seem to be running a separate investigation. All of the characters are unwilling to talk, and there is a nest of secrets to uncover.
This however, is a leisurely mystery, calm as Moosehead Lake in September. Any suggestion of suspense or excitement can be put off until tomorrow. It's an unfolding of the clues - and whatever the police have been doing, an arrival at the truth for DiMarco.
Enjoyable, but don't seek it out too hard.
1962 / Paperback / 141 pages
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