Part of Mario Balzic Detective Mystery, book 3
First published 1974
Memorial Day brings record heat to the small Pennsylvania town where Police Chief Mario Balzic keeps the peace. When Miss Cynthia Summer calls about a missing student renter, Balzic expects another routine case. Instead he finds Janet Pisula dead in her room with a blank sheet of typing paper placed on her stomach. The strange detail turns what might have been a straightforward death into something more puzzling. Balzic must work through the sweltering heat and small town secrets to understand what happened to the young woman. The blank page becomes both clue and symbol as the chief digs into Janet's life and death. Constantine puts readers inside a working cop's investigation, where the answers come slowly and the truth emerges from careful police work rather than dramatic revelations.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, small-town-secrets
Setting: Pennsylvania
Period: Memorial Day
150 pages · Hardcover · Dutton