Murder Makes the Wheels Go Round

An old series, but a good one, featuring Wall Street banker John Thatcher. Thatcher is all business, but his business keeps involving him in situations where there are murders to unravel, and wrongs to right. In this one, our hero has gone out to Detroit to evaluate the business of Michigan Motors, but things get complicated when one of the firm's senior managers gets killed. A strong sense of place (banking used to be different) and an undertone of humor add to the pleasures of this series.

An excellent entry to the Emma Lathen series of John Thatcher novels. I figured out the killer early on but the characterizations, Thatcher 's ironic and sharp thinking process, and the humor made the reading the novel a pleasure. I actually ended up laughing out loud at one scene towards the end.

I took a break while reading this, that did not help when it came to the grand finale. I had to reread a bit. But it's so well-hidden even reading it on one go might not have been enough.

While in Detroit investigating the prospects of an auto company with a very shaky past, John Putnam Thatcher witnesses the surprise unveiling of a much-disliked corpse. He must sift through the evidence to unmask an unexpected murderer. The usual wonderful stuff. The scene in which Miss Corsa tries to maneuver JPT into proof reading is fun.

John Putnam Thatcher, high-ranking executive at Sloan Guaranty Trust, is looking (dubiously) at investing a stock offering by Michigan Motors, rising Detroit car manufacturer (roughly American Motors --not one of the Big Three, but hoping to get there). Unfortunately, it was recently convicted of rigging government big and price fixing; still more unfortunately, one of its executives is shot while Thatcher is visiting Detroit. Nice to revisit the days when American car companies were potential hot investments.