Question of Trust

In her fifth Izzy McNeil mystery (after Claim of Innocence), former attorney Caldwell falls into the serial character trap, lazily bringing readers up to speed on Izzy's transformation from a civil to a criminal lawyer and her moonlighting job as a PI. Izzy also harkens back to last year's lover%E2%80%94her ex-fianc%C3%A9, Sam%E2%80%94 the murder of her friend Jane, and the sudden reappearance of her dad, but only gives enough details to confuse. Quirky Izzy's new fling, Theo%E2%80%94eight years her junior and partner in a successful web development company%E2%80%94is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney's Office for money laundering and wire fraud, but he claims he's innocent. Throw in a boatload of cocaine, a Mexican drug cartel, a dead neighbor (whose death, as noted in the Prologue but not revisited until the final third of the book, drags the novel along), and a hefty sum of missing money, and the result is a story that tries hard but doesn't produce much suspense. (Mar.)