The Great Reminder

A gentile in a world of Saints, Salt Lake City private eye Moroni Traveler doesn't follow the Mormon religion into which he was born, yet it determines the course of his every case. In this, his sixth appearance (after The Spoken Word ), Moroni is hired by an old-timer who wants to pay a debt before he dies to a man who may himself have died long ago. Utah housed camps for captured Germans during WW II; a number of prisoners working on local farms died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances. One such prisoner vanished with his wages outstanding, leaving Moroni's elderly client, a former accountant, troubled for nearly half a century. Powerful local Mormons, however, take a dim view of meddling with the dead, or even with those only likely to be so. To further complicate the search for the missing prisoner, Moroni and his father, who is also his partner, trail a missing child who may be the younger PI's son. Although his sketchy depiction of Mormon culture--and of a few secondary characters--may interfere with new readers' enjoyment, Irvine expertly unravels a skein of decades-old mysteries in a satisfying addition to his unusual, solid series. (July)