In Breaznell's (The Star of Sutherland) undistinguished golf mystery, homicide detective Karl Kanopka investigates the murder of a detested real estate developer on the grounds of a fancy Long Island golf course. Kanopka's mechanical, by-the-numbers approach can't prevent further murders, which serve to narrow the already small field of suspects. Longings for his late wife slightly leaven the detective's cynical personality, but he loses the reader's sympathy as soon as he hops into the sack with the clichéd attractive widow of the first victim. Despite numerous cheap shots at Agatha Christie, Breaznell fails to sustain character or plot, and his sleuth's solving the crime solely by being targeted by the killer doesn't entitle him to mock the traditions of the Golden Age. (Sept. 1)
