With a character  like Ironton, N.J.’s Detective Frank Nagler, the subject of three books, the question is how did he get to the spot he is in?  That what I’m try to answer in the prequel to the three mysteries so far. This one of called “Just Come Home.”

It will with luck explain about his wife, Martha, the city of Ironton, the serial killer, Charlie Adams, and Frank.

Here’s a look:

Frank Nagler slipped the blue jacket over his shoulders, and with a shimmy, pulled at the lapels to square it up.

It was Martha’s idea that he needed new clothes for his new job. He would have been happy just to wear his comfortable brown jacket, even if the elbows were shiny, but she insisted. At least he had his old, worn-in shoes.

She had dragged him to Benny’s Menswear where for an hour she had him model suits…