Originally written in 1963, at first the characters seemed a bit too stereotypical. But the mystery of who killed a shady character named, Cox, in a motel room, and that amateur sleuth, Dave Tully, whose gun was the weapon used, sets out to clear his wife, Ruth's name, outweighs the tale's dated feel. His wife goes missing at the same time that the victim was found, and Tully hounds the lead detective (Smith) on the case to find Ruth, while he also tries to find answers on his own that link his wife's past to the dead man. He seesaws back and forth between declaring his wife's innocence and doubting her fidelity, adding emotional tension. It's the very capable narrator/reader, Mark Peckman, and the so-many twists and turns in the storyline, plus the secondary characters' back stories that became the hook for me, and why I rated this a four-star listen. ( )