Taste of Evil

In her third outing (after Vision of Death ), Casey Farrel and her newly adopted five-year-old son Donnie are in the stands at a rodeo when a bull rider dies in the ring. As a member of the Governor of Arizona's Task Force on Crime, Casey soon learns that the rider, named Buck Farrel, was poisoned before his event. Buck's father, who turns out to be Casey's uncle, long estranged from her father, pleads with her to look into his son's death. Although her lover, Phoenix homicide officer Josh Whitney, cautions her against working for relatives, Casey feels obligated to investigate. The most obvious suspects are Darrel Dyce and his son Barney, feuding neighbors whose ranch adjoins the Farrel's. A heretofore unannounced pregnancy, the shooting of a stable hand that resembles a death from a decade earlier and a kidnapping firm up Casey's resolve to stay on the case. Lots of Southwest scenery enlivens this cozy. (Dec.)