Skylark: A Mystery

No small model from Detroit despite the suggestion of her name, ex-basketball star Lark Dodge (introduced in Larkspur) hits the mark again in this mix of international intrigue and suspense. Californian Lark is in London attending a bookseller's convention with Ann Veryan, a Georgia divorcee. One evening in the crowded Underground, their new Czech friend Milos is stabbed and a green plastic Harrods' bag is stolen from another passenger. Milos is seriously injured and Lark and Ann are shaken-Ann was carrying a similar bag for Milos, holding a manuscript written in Czech. Before turning the manuscript over to the police, Lark makes a copy, which she sends to her professor father in upstate New York. After their flat is ransacked, the women decide to confront Milos but find he has been taken from the hospital in a private ambulance. Lark's husband Jay, a police instructor, arrives to help locate Milos and determine the manuscript's significance, which proves considerable. Self-aware and intelligent, the clearly drawn Lark is a promising new presence on the mystery scene. (Oct.)