THANKSGIVING

Dibdin's 14th novel investigates a raw case of grief and throws a murder mystery in for good measure. Anthony, a British journalist, has just lost his wife, Lucy, in a plane crash and is still reeling from the news. The book opens with the anguished and gun-toting protagonist confronting his wife's ex, who is found dead soon afterward. And so an unnecessary whodunit begins. The plight of Anthony, suspected killer (which never comes to a real climax), becomes a feeble aside to the main story -- of Anthony, the widower, which is told in poignant and irreverent prose that will awaken any reader's sympathy in this gripping tale of love and loss. B+