“Crooked Street” by Priscilla Masters

    A woman calls the police station to report that her husband of two years hasn’t returned home from work. She’s upset. He would never run out on her. Detective Inspector Joanna Piercy gets the call. She assumes the man will be home soon and explain his lateness. But the man does not return. As D.I. Piercy begins to find out where the man is, she discovers his perfect façade has cracks. He is not the perfect husband his wife thought he was. D.I. Percy’s boyfriend is asking to make their relationship more solid as well. Though Joanne loves him dearly, moving house and expanding their family makes her apprehensive. This is the 13th Joanna Piercy mystery, but my first. I enjoyed the build-up of learning more about the people living in the neighborhood as the mystery was pieced together.  The crime was secondary to character development. I would definitely read another by Masters.