Dead Certain

In her fifth appearance, Det. Insp. Carol Ashton investigates the death of Collis Raeburn, ``Australia's Pavarotti.'' Found in a Sydney hotel room, Collis appears to have committed suicide, but to Carol his death ``looks staged.'' Suspects are copious: Kenneth Raeburn, Collis's father and manager, denies that his son was HIV-positive, despite evidence to the contrary. Collis's sister, Nicole, was fiercely--perhaps incestuously--devoted to him. The singer's life befitted grand opera: he had contentious relationships (on and off stage) with sopranos Alanna Brooks and Corinne Jawalski; he may have been about to bail out of a new opera composed by Graeme Welton and produced by Edward Livingston; and he doomed rival tenor Lloyd Clancy to second place. It is doubly tough for Carol to sort through Collis's life when her own is on the rocks: her lover, Sybil Quade, has moved out, and an anonymous caller is threatening to expose Carol as a lesbian. Still, with the able assistance of Det. Sgt. Mark Bourke and Cons. Anne Newsome, Carol works her way through the lies and smokescreens McNab ( Cop Out ) sends up in her path in this well-constructed mystery. (Feb.)