Det. Chief Insp. Jack Finch, #8 in the series, first published 1981.
An interesting murder mystery, told from several points of view, including the victim, witnesses in the case, as well as Detective Chief Inspector Jack Finch.
Dr. Howard Jordan runs a private clinic for wealthy patients in need of psychological therapy, for nerves, exhaustion, anxiety and similar complaints. There is an actor and a concert pianist in the latest group, and several civil servants. Dr. Jordan is ambitious, autocratic, and much admired by the professional women at the clinic. However he disregards his timid wife, making her feel inferior and unnecessary. One day she disappears from the Hall and does not return. The staff assist in searching the grounds, wondering whether she has left her husband at last. One of the patients calls up the Chief Constable and demands a senior investigator, and so Inspector Finch is summoned to this missing person investigation, which spirals out of control into a murder case.
As the clinic's secrets are revealed, a number of suspects are implicated, and the solution unravels both the plot puzzles and the psychological mysteries in a satisfying way. A good series of old-fashioned police detective novels - recommended. ( )