This is the first Jenny Cain that I read, probably about 15 years ago, & what made me hunt down all the others. I enjoyed this one just as much the 2nd time. This one is really creepy all the way through - the mad doctor, the ex-murderers & -rapists, the barely controlled violence at the school, the strange people in the flats, particularly Jed & his mother. King Leer provides some comic relief but not enough to relieve the eerie atmosphere.

cover:
Ordinarily, Massachusetts native Jenny Cain would be thrilled to spend time in New York City. But her good friend Carol Margolis has just been brutally murdered - a mugging gone wrong, say the police - and Jenny's been tapped to step into Carol's shoes as temporary director of the Hart Foundation. In New York, Jenny soon finds that almost everyone Carol knew had, if not a motive to kill, at least a grudge - from sharp-tongued Patricia Vinitsky, president of the Hart board, to Carol's estranged husband, Steve, a blues musician. And everywhere she goes, Jenny cannot escape the city's almost palpable aura of violence. Somewhere in the vast, vital metropolis, Carol's murderer is lurking, waiting for Jenny to make the wrong move. New York is a great place to visit, but... ( )