Rendell Ruth
The Veiled One
Another one of the Chief Inspector Wexford mysteries, originally published in 1988, copyright by Kingsmarkham Enterprises, which is quite fitting, as Wexford´s home turf is Kingsmarkham.
In this story Wexford has to investigate a murder in a shopping centre. A middle-aged woman is being murdered while Wexford is in the shopping centre and still he hasn´t a clue. But he and his assistant Burden put on a brave face and in the end, not thoroughly unexpected, they can solve the case. It´s a neighbourhood problem on the one hand, and a psychological one on the other, and the latter is always perfectly described and developed, a Rendell characteristic, and a good one at that. And Wexford, as usual, gets ample opportunities to ponder about life in general.