Shadow in the Corn

An iconoclastic junior lecturer in archeology and an ambitious reporter from a provincial newspaper lead this spellbinding journey into the world of pagan rituals with occult underpinnings. When Lucy Gray, Jeffrey Flint's student at London's Central College, disappears before final exams, Vikki Corbett of the Durring and Kingshaven Advertiser senses a story that might take her to Fleet Street. She teams up with Flint, and the duo soon discover a trail of sexual intrigue that leads in a direct line from Glastonbury to Stonehenge. Encountering danger in museums and in the countryside, they unearth instances of conspiracy, kidnapping, arson, adultery and murder. Before the mesmerizing climactic chase along a treacherous sea wall, the two link a New Age eco-fascist revival cult to brutal acts of mayhem involving dog feces, severed chicken heads, parcel bombs and bloodsoaked letters. Foss, the author of three archeological whodunits under another name, combines authentic scholarly detail with breakneck pacing to create a first-rate thriller. (Mar.)