The Holiday Murders

Landreth's interesting characters and plot are the real victims in this first effort, done in by its hokey, melodramatic conclusion. Dr. Samantha Turner, 34-year-old widow and coroner of Sheridan, Wyo., is sure that a serial killer is responsible for the nearby murders of women at holiday times. The most recent killing--on July 4--attracts the attention of the Defense Intelligence Agency, because the victim was in the federal Witness Protection program. When putative journalist (and CIA agent) Derek Turner, son of Samantha's late husband, arrives in Sheridan to investigate, Sam is stunned by how much he resembles his father. Readers are alerted to the possibility of romance. Another body, which Sam realizes has been frozen, turns up as the plot thickens somewhat. A friend of Sam's is killed and then she herself is targeted by a killer. The plot's forensics aspects seem realistic, but its climax--involving the surprise appearances of an unknown twin and a live ``corpse,'' a histrionic confrontation and the end of an affair (all occurring in a church)--rings like a wooden nickel. But the novel accomplishes enough prior to its final pages to make Samantha Turner's promised second appearance worth watching for. (Dec.)