THE SUMMER SNOW by Rebecca Pawel (Soho Crime)

The death of a rich old woman who called in the police on a regular basis shouldn't have prompted a full-scale investigation. The old woman, however was special. She changed her will almost as much as she called the police and her will is missing. Not only that, the administrator of her will is the father of Lt. Carlos Tejada of the Guardia. The investigation not only plunges Tejada into family intrigue, but it forces him to reconcile his young wife and son with the haughty aristocratic family he left behind when he joined the force. The story is further complicated by its setting: Post World War II Spain, still recovering from the Red Menace. Pawel won the Edgar for the first in this series, DEATH OF A NATIONALIST.