The Smooth Face of Evil - softcover - Margaret Yorke

Violence was not Terry's style at all. He found it crude, uncivilized, and unnecessary. He picked up things other ways -- articles left in unlocked cars, the cars themselves, handbags left on chairs or tables. Terry was extremely personable. Discontented middle-aged housewives who took him to their hearts also paid the price -- in tears and in cash. But however careful he was, mistakes were inevitable. His first was pure accident. In a stolen car, he rear-ended a woman driver, beginning a long nightmare that would lead him eventually to be accused of a murder he didn't commit.