YVONNE MONTGOMERY – Scavengers. Arbor House, hardcover, 1987. Avon, paperback, August 1990.

   Many mystery writers grew up reading Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew and Mary Roberts Rinehart, and these roots are apparent in their writing. In Strangled Prose (1986), the first Claire Malloy mystery, Joan Hess often has her heroine compare herself to Drew.

   Finny Aletter, in Yvonne Montgomery’s Scavengers calls herself “Nancy Drew, all grown up.” She is grown up, although still a bit unskilled at detection. She has become a successful Denver stock broker but is now ready to drop out of the business world because she prefers doing restoration carpentry work.

   One of the reasons for her disenchantment is a sexist boss with “a new lease on lust,” and when he is found shot to death, Finny becomes a prime suspect. Ms. Montgomery has a nice knack of describing Denver and using clever lines, e.g., “as obsolete as a church key in a pull-tab world.” Dare we hope for a better puzzle in future books?

Editorial Comments:   Biblio-mystery fans, take note. Although I have not read it, also involved in Finny Aletter’s first appearance is a previously unknown Mark Twain manuscript. And in case you were wondering, her only follow-up case was Obstacle Course (Avon, paperback original, 1990).