When the Killing Starts: A Reid Bennett Mystery

Despite its billing as ``A Reid Bennett Mystery,'' this sixth outing for Wood's hard-nosed Canadian cop ( Corkscrew , Live Bait ) is a straightforward action-adventure, depending more on fist-fights, chases and narrow escapes than on unexpected plot turns or intrigues. Bennett, chief of police in cozy Murphy's Harbour, has vacation time coming up, and with his actress girlfriend departing for a film shoot, no plans. Warily, he accepts a private assignment from a rich woman who claims her rebellious son has joined Freedom for Hire, a private band of mercenaries; not sure that he remains in the group by choice, she wants the 20-year-old retrieved. Drawing on his Vietnam experience (and with a stylistic nod or two to Rambo ), Bennett ventures into the hazardous Canadian bush, only to discover that he was probably hired under false pretenses. The author's efficient if unsurprising narrative may satisfy readers who have come this far with the series, but his laconic, tough-guy herogrim, iron-willed, boldis very much a stock character. (Jan.)