Wildcat Play

Knode’s ponderous second mystery featuring L.A. movie critic Ann Whitehead (after 2003’s The Ticket Out) takes Ann to oil country. Ann’s family’s business was oil, and her father’s friend Joe Balch is happy to hire her on his wildcat gas drilling operation in the San Joaquin Valley. Despite pressure from her grandmother and Joe’s estranged wife to do something more genteel, Ann is soon enmeshed in the dangerous world of the drilling rig. When a hand is murdered on the rig, Ann investigates, putting herself at risk in a life-and-death situation with big money at stake. Even her LAPD love, Det. Doug Lockwood, eventually becomes involved in the race to find the killer. Conspiracy, murder, and family secrets eventually explode in an exciting conclusion, though some readers may feel they’ve learned more about the down-and-dirty world of the oil fields than they need to along the way. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Associates. (Apr.)