A Line of Blood

Set in London, British TV producer McPherson’s slick suspense debut offers no psychological insights. When Alex Mercer and his 11-year-old son, Max, go chasing after their cat, they find their next-door neighbor, Mr. Bryce, electrocuted by an iron in the bathtub. Is it a suicide or a homicide? A short while before this discovery, Alex’s wife, Millicent, lost a daughter in utero. In the aftermath, Max suffered extreme signs of anxiety, would not allow his mother near him and had to see a psychiatrist. Once he stabilized, Millicent refused to deal with or talk about her feelings, disappearing for long periods, not functioning as a wife or a mother and burying herself in her work. Alex fears that the impact of finding the body may cause Max to regress. When a bracelet of Millicent’s turns up in Bryce’s house, both husband and wife fall under suspicion for murder. The simple, linear plot builds to a predictable and unsatisfying ending. Agent: Judith Murray, Greene & Heaton Literary Agency (U.K.). (Sept.)