The Green Mosaic: A Mystery of the Adirondacks

Freelance crime writer T.S.W. Sheridan, based in Rochester, N.Y., takes a leisurely hike through a twisting plot set in the Adirondacks as he probes the death of a local environmental activist. Glenny Oldham, beautiful leader of a group called Earthmothers, was killed in a suspicious fall near her mountain cabin three years ago. Vacationing in the area with his girlfriend, Sheridan looks into the case, tracking down the locals' prime suspect for foul play, a loudmouthed bully whom he tangles with in a barroom brawl, and who soon turns up dead. From interviews with Glenny's family and associates and with some library research, he connects the dead woman to environmental terrorists, the local law and monied lumber barons. Sheridan pokes holes in several alibis and raises a few red herrings and at least one killer from the shady past of Adirondack Park. Wilcox (The Painted Lady) so deftly portrays both the Finger Lakes landscape and life in the slow lane that many readers won't see the trees for the forest in this well-constructed tale. (Sept.)