A Clutch of Vipers — Jack S. Scott

A Joan Kahn Harper Novel of Suspense. Detective Sgt. Alfred Stanley Rosher, a former inspector, has been busted in rank, his fat wife has left him, his fellow officers are avoiding him, his new diet of boiled eggs and beans is disgusting, and his house is a mess. So he advertises for a housekeeper. That gives Mad Frankie Daly an idea. Daly, who doesn't care for Rosher, decides to offer him a household he isn't expecting.