To an Easy Grave

When Sean Denby, star quarterback for the Toronto Metros football team, is found murdered in his home, Richard Cane, an old college roommate of Denby's, is prompted to investigate. But Cane is no sleuth, and anything he knows about detective work, he learned on TV. With one foot in The Big Sleep and the other in The Big Chill, Alexander Law has created a likable and believable hero. The narrative, however, is not always as engaging. Some of the wisecracks are dull and some of the brooding monologues, monotonous. There are a few implausible plot sequences (including an annoying ""villain-tells-hero-everything-right-before-he-kills-him'' scene) and, with the exception of Ian Hurst, a great hardboiled foil for Cane, few of the characters are well drawn. Ultimately, the reader finds it hard to imagine any of them killing anything. Setting the novel in and around Toronto, Law brings the city to life in a refreshing way. One hopes that future efforts will do both his hero and his city justice. (November 17)