title: A Lively Form of Death (A Chief Inspector Morrisey Mystery)
author:  Kay Mitchell 
description: In this well-plotted, tersely scripted first novel, chief inspector John Morrissey has his work cut out for him. Three corpses, one horribly mutilated, and eight missing children--two seemingly separate cases that turn out to be linked--lead Morrissey along a twisted path into the darkest corners of Little Henge, a quiet English village rocked by sudden violence. "There were serpents in every paradise," the local vicar thinks to himself as he studies femme fatale Marion Walsh. After Walsh's housekeeper pilfers a quart of milk from her employer--milk unfortunately laced with cyanide--Morrissey is called in to investigate her death. His attention quickly focuses on Helen Goddard, whose husband was having a well-publicized affair with Walsh. Unaccountably drawn to the prim, proper Helen, the happily married detective must struggle with himself to do his job objectively. Before he's through, the chief inspector will encounter pedophiles, kiddy porn, blackmail, more adultery and a new appreciation for such serpent-free pleasures as home, family and hearth. <br />Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: # Dead Smart
  
   **by Stephen Puleston**
  
  
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  # Chapter 1
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Wednesday
  
  
  
  
  
  ### _08.30 am_
  
  Eddie Westford’s steel-grey hair, the consistency of blow-dried wire wool,
  cascaded around his shoulders passing the gaping, bloody wound that stretched
  over his neck. His jet-black beard had been carefully trimmed and clumps of
  wispy white hair were scattered over his chest. There must have been a lot of
  blood and looking down at him on the gurney in the mortuary brought to mind
  the disgust in the voice of the young sergeant who had reported the discovery
  of the body near the Cardiff City Stadium the previous evening.
  
  
  Dr Paddy MacVeigh, the pathologist, hummed along to some orchestral music
  t