A Word to the Wise

Heinzmann’s so-so debut crime thriller introduces Augustine Flood, a former FBI agent who’s begun a new career as an attorney at a Chicago law firm. A senior partner assigns Flood to help a desperate client, Dan Westlake, find his missing wife, Marcy, so he can get his hands on funds kept under her name in an offshore account. Flood later is disappointed to learn that the senior partner failed to reveal Westlake’s link to a controversial, mob-connected casino project that’s under federal investigation. Flood’s contacts in law enforcement lead him to a brutalized corpse whose features match those of Marcy, placing his obligation to his client in conflict with the police. Heinzmann, a veteran crime reporter for the Chicago Tribune , tries with little success to humanize Flood by giving him a love interest and a talent for cooking. The plot builds to a clichéd hostage situation that can be seen coming a mile off. (Dec.)