Nice People

Two missing wives, two deaths and a troubled teen in a southern English town create more than enough work for Superintendent Mike Yeadings in his 10th outing. The first part of this story belongs to teenager Owen Stafford, confused by his parents' divorce and living with his mom and her new, brutish husband. A nasty, also brutish, cop says he suspects Owen of being a flasher, although he knows the boy is not guilty. The body of a dead woman is found in the work trailer belonging to Owen's father, who is soon in possession of a note demanding ransom for his ex-wife's safe return. The second half of the tale belongs to Yeadings, who gets to put all the pieces together as Curzon (First Wife, Twice Removed) shifts the focus of her story from Owen to the dense procedural maze that Yeadings must navigate. The revelations are somewhat blurred at the close, but this split-level story takes on its own life long before the conclusion. (June)