The Man Who Whispered

In this overly plotted Doc Adams mystery, the puzzle revolves around the last words of 60-year-old convicted smuggler Christos Ramos, who whispered his confession to the oral surgeon and sleuth. Christos left valuable booty, but where is it? The clues Christos rasped with his dying breath sounded so simple that Doc didn't write them down. Could he have heard wrong? Or could they simply be the ramblings of senility? These questions breed red herrings that metamorphose so rapidly and so often that the story line senselessly meanders. Nonetheless, readers whose minds may wander will be shaken awake by Boyer's sharp interpolations, some of which (Suriname, the behavior of poisonous frogs, etc.) actually bear on the story. In general, mystery fans will find the suspense uneven, but avid aficionados will happily stay to the end of this series follow-up by the Edgar Award-winning writer. (Nov.)