Another Dead Teenager: A Paul Turner Mystery

Like the mystery it tracks, Zubro's latest Paul Turner opus (after Political Poison) is a decidedly mixed bag. When the teenage sons of two prominent Chicago families are murdered, gay CPD detective Turner and his longtime (straight) partner, Buck Fenwick, are under pressure to solve the case pronto. Their solution, however, proves both obvious and disappointing and features an excess of red herrings and a heavy dose of copspeak (``You always looked not only at what the suspects did do, but at what they didn't do''). Zubro undermines his setting's authenticity by inventing the North Shore suburb of Kenitkamette--as if Kenilworth, Winnetka and Wilmette had merged. But there's also good news. Both in the station house and on Turner's home front, the personal notes ring refreshingly true to life. Fenwick's good-natured teasing about his partner's sexual orientation; Turner's relationships with his two sons and new boyfriend; and the wonderfully stubborn Rose Talucci, the Turner family's next-door earth mother, all make Zubro's offering something zippier than Another Limp Mystery. (Aug.)