THE END OF MARRIAGE

Vida's sixth novel wraps up many dissolving marriages in the skein of a lively plot that centers around Teo Domingos, who's a Mexican-American Vietnam veteran and homicide cop in the Newport Beach Police Department, and Ellie Holmgren, a divorced restaurant manager whose eight-year-old son has recently died. Their paths cross when Teo is called to investigate the death of Ellie's abusive brother-in-law, Morty Miller. Though Teo suspects that Ellie's sister, Alice, killed him, the evidence he needs eludes him, so he begins trailing the sisters and following up odd leads that take him from pricey West Los Angeles to the lockdown of the San Onofre nuclear power plant. Woven through this murder mystery are the dramas of Teo's and Ellie's families, including several failed and failing marriages—Teo's, Ellie's and Alice's, just for starters—and some major family secrets. Vida (Between Sisters; Goodbye, Saigon) is resourceful at plotting and a deft hand at creating vivid minor characters, though she's less successful with her central characters. Ellie and Alice never come into sharp relief, and as the conflicted Vietnam vet, Teo will seem a touch too familiar. His life as a homicide cop, however, is described without cliché (no small achievement) and his complicated domestic life is portrayed without sentimentality. Vida manages to juggle her busy plot so the characters who deserve a bit of happiness at last find it. Agent, Susan Gleason. (May)

Forecast:This could be a tricky sell, since it's neither full-fledged romance nor mystery, but expect strongest sales in southern California.