Wild Justice

Two seemingly disparate cases coalesce in this Spenser wannabe; one an obvious murder, the other a nasty real-estate scheme. Boston-based private investigator James Maxfield Mallory is visiting friends in Maine when their handyman is arrested for the murder of a neighbor. Though he'd like to try to clear the man, Mallory must return to Boston, where he has been hired to determine the identities of the mysterious principals of Eden Development, a shadowy concern that bought up a block of houses it now desperately wants to empty in order to turn the buildings into co-ops, using thrugs to threaten the longtime residents. Eden's lawyer, George Amory, stonewalls; he says he doesn't know precisely whom he's representing. But Mallory has met Amory's girlfriend, Dana McOscar, back in Maine. Could there be a connection? Smith ( A Secret Singing ) piles on the coincidences, utilizes patently unbelievable characters and can't write dialogue for Boston baked beans. (June)