For some reason, I particularly liked this one of the series, perhaps because a fast food chain is something I can identify with more than most of the other businesses that John Putnam Thatcher , executive of the Sloan Guaranty Trust, is usually involved in. This involves someone poisoning food from the chain --not unlike stories involving Nero Wolfe and Dr. Chafee. ( )

A competent detective story. ( )

When his old friend Tom Robichaux tricks one of John Putnam Thatcher's underlings into investing in a chicken franchise under investigation for poisoning its customers, Thatcher is reluctantly drawn into involvement with the fast-food industry and must learn which of the players in an unlikely business merger is threatened enough to kill. This is terribly funny in spots. The Hunt Club dance (from which Thatcher contemplates requesting rescue by the Sloan helicopter) is a really good scene. ( )