St. Martins, August 1998; 1st printing of 1st U.S. edition. Fine HC in Near

St. Martins, August 1998; 1st printing of 1st U.S. edition. Fine HC in Near Fine DJ. Bright, clean, square covers and spine; tightly bound; bright, crisp, clean interior. DJ is bright, clean and complete; narrow 3/4 inch long scrape on rear cover at tail edge. 8vo, 294 pp. This is a new, unread book, very faintly shelf-scuffed.

Book 1st U.S. edition, August 1998, with complete number line beginning with

Book 1st U.S. edition, August 1998, with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in fine dust jacket, not price clipped, in protective mylar cover. "From a simple but intriguing academic premise, Cooper (Rotten Apples, etc. ) constructs an engaging puzzle based on modern police science for her seventh Willow King mystery. English amateur sleuth and romance novelist Willow helps her wealthy friend Emma who, at work on her postgraduate criminology degree, is trying to find original material about lie-detectors and their usefulness in determining a suspect's guilt. What she seeks is a definitive miscarriage of justice. Willow, married to a police superintendent, uses her connections to find the odd case of Andrew Lutterworth. Convicted of killing a mother and baby in a car accident, Lutterworth at first denies and then confesses to the crime. But at the trial, he pleads innocent. When Emma first hooks him up to the polygraph, she is led to believe he is trying to hide something, although not necessarily his role in the crime. Digging into the case, Willow and Emma learn that Lutterworth's only child died unexpectedly of necrotising fasciitis, after which his wife apparently went mad. Further lie-detector tests on Lutterworth reveal his long-hidden secret and the reason for his contradictory behavior. In the meantime, Emma strengthens her friendship with Willow. With her deft characterizations and intriguing puzzle, Cooper provides a representative example of a fine British cozy."--Publishers Weekly.