A Tightly Raveled Mind

Lawson puts her professional experience as a psychoanalyst to good use in her engrossing debut, which melds an unusual mystery plot with insights into the inner world of a psychotherapist. Although psychoanalysis “is not and has never been the fashion in Texas,” Nora Goodman manages to run a successful San Antonio practice on the grounds of her ex-husband’s childhood home. Early on, Nora warns the readers of what will come: “The Monday that my patient, Howard Westerman, blew himself to kingdom come started like any other workday.” The circumstances of her patient’s death in an explosion at his chemistry lab cause Nora to wonder whether she bears responsibility for the tragedy if, in fact, Westerman took his own life. When the police refuse to take seriously her suspicion that someone murdered the man, she turns for help to a PI, Miguel Ruiz, who has little use for Freud. Strong characterization and prose more than compensate for an unsatisfying ending. (Oct.)