Sins of Silence

Wilcox's debut, and the first of her Elliot Bay mystery series, features plucky sailing instructor Kellie Montgomery. A 40-year-old widow, Kellie lives alone aboard a sailboat moored in a marina near Seattle. A neighboring slip harbors the yacht belonging to the attorney who found Kellie a daughter through private adoption 20 years earlier. When the attorney and his wife are discovered murdered out on the bay, Kellie's curiosity is aroused, though given her tenuous connections to the couple her motivations are murky. Still, Wilcox does a good job of bringing depth and resonance to Kellie and her unusual life. The storyline remains on course, even though it bobs among several gritty subjects: black-market baby adoptions, adoptees seeking their natural parents, and horrid secrets of child abuse. Altogether this is a distinctive and intriguing launch. (July)