Is on my side

Helen McCloy wrote her mystery series about Dr. Willing, a psychologist who works with the NYPD, for some time. The first novel came out in 1938, the last in 1980. I recently felt like reading one of the books in the series, or possibly rereading them. The library couldn't help me there, as it didn't have any of them. But they used to. I know this because I've borrowed a couple before. So since then they've apparently cleaned out the entire system, either by selling or just chucking. I can see pruning, but it seems like they should have kept one or two titles at least.

The good news is that I was able to borrow another McCloy book, A Question of Time. It's a thriller with some non-overpowering Gothic touches. The plot concerns a girl brought from Italy to live with her grandmother in Boston. At a young age, she develops a seemingly irrational fear of the ballroom that contains an intense Goya painting, despite never having seen it. Years later, she returns to Beantown and things develop from there.

The book came out in the latter half of McCloy's career, and must have been written when she was about 60. Still and all, she takes an interest in her child and young adult characters, and seems to have fun writing their dialogue. A sort of snapshot of posh Northeastern Boomers in their youth.