Where to Choose

The characters in Micklebury's (One Must Wait, etc.) provocative new mystery are a diverse group: canny detectives and lawyers, burly security experts, newlyweds and aging widows. Added to a few gang members and unscrupulous policemen, they make for an explosive and unpredictable tale. A year after her husband was murdered, Carole Ann Gibson, once a high-powered criminal defense attorney in a top D.C. law firm, is still reeling from his death, alienated, depressed and unfocused. So when her mother, Grayce, calls from Los Angeles with a pressing problem, Carole Ann is ready to fly out to help. A Chicano gang has taken over Grayce's home in the once edenic subdivision of Jacaranda Estates, a working-class, family-oriented community planned by blacks and Hispanics. Two elderly black women have been murdered, and the apathetic LAPD refuses to investigate the killings. Carole Ann's sleuthing infuriates the authorities, provokes an attack on her mother and sinks her into profound legal difficulties. Yet by probing into the violence and the community's history, she unearths some astonishing facts and discovers a new sense of family and place. Long on suspense, characterization and attitude, here's a tale that pleases from start to finish. Charlotte Sheedy Agency. (Feb.)