Murder in Geneva: A Third-Culture Kid Mystery

Nelson%E2%80%99s disappointing third Third-Culture Kid mystery (after 2011%E2%80%99s Murder in Argel%C3%A8s) alternates between the present and the distant past, not always comfortably. When an unidentified body pulled out of Lake Geneva turns out to be Urs Stoller, a University of Geneva art professor, French detective Roger Perret joins forces with the Swiss police to look into an apparent case of foul play. Meanwhile, tech writer Annie Young tries to unearth the history behind a portfolio of 16th-century drawings found hidden in Geneva%E2%80%99s old town and rescued from the trash by her student friend, Mireille Bosset, once Stoller%E2%80%99s mistress. Flashbacks to the 1550s focus on the drawings%E2%80%99 creator, Elizabeth Huguette, whose art was her only escape from the harsh Calvinistic strictures of the day. Those who slog through the contemporary murder investigation to the abrupt end will wish Nelson had given more attention to Elizabeth%E2%80%99s far more interesting story. (Oct.)