Empty Boxes

The title is a hint to a major plot element in this somewhat tangled, dangerous, multi-crime story with an intrepid reporter at the center. Rita Locke, crime reporter for a major Pittsburgh paper, is awakened early on a Sunday, her day off, by one of her police sources alerting her to a grisly murder in a funeral home. It’s the last straw for her boyfriend, and as she leaves for the crime scene, he ends their relationship. The body was found by a local beautician, and she is mighty nervous when interviewed by Rita. There are dead witnesses, anonymous clues, stolen jewelry, fake medical practitioners, and medical schools, nearly deadly foreign travel, returning boyfriends, and of course, the empty coffins referred to in the title. Yes, the story is crowded, but it is refreshing to have a reporter at the head rather than a cop or a PI, and readers will not be able to put this down towards the end. Here’s hoping for more about Rita Locke.