The Poison Tree

With a pitiless take on English academe, this debut novel thrusts a sexually ambiguous heroine into an especially nasty murder case ripe with sexual violence and degradation. Terry Williams, in Oxford to finish her detective fiction doctorate, buys a house where a male student was recently killed by a sexual sadist. Most of Terry's new neighbors, although cleared by police, look suspicious to her. Scholar and poet Brian Eden's wife, Carla, may have had an affair with the student shortly before his death, giving either husband or wife a possible motive. Dorling Van Glught writes children's books in a meter that resembles some notes that were sent to the police anonymously about the murder. When Terry begins remodeling her home, she discovers clippings of sexually titillating letters printed in a porn magazine; they hint at dangerous mate-swapping practices by her neighbors. Terry's determination to crack the unsolved case meets resistance from the cop in charge (who becomes her lover despite her flirtation with lesbianism) and from university dons determined to let the whole seamy business die down. The explicit, lovelessly bleak sexual content will surely offend some readers, but others will find uncommonly interesting characters and a clever puzzle. (Dec.)