Privileged to Kill

Bill Gastner can't sleep, eats way too much Mexican food and seems headed for a stroke. But in his fifth adventure (after Before She Dies), the aging undersheriff of Posadas County, N.M., labors 'round the clock to solve the mysterious death of a 15-year-old girl. Maria Ibarra's body was found under the high-school football field bleachers. The first suspect is Wesley Crocker, an itinerant bicyclist whom Gastner, out of kindness, had treated to a meal the previous night. Gastner feels certain that Crocker is innocent, a notion confirmed when an unknown motorist tries to run down the cyclist. Vanessa Davila, a friend of Maria's, flees when police question her. Then a bright, popular student is killed in a suspicious car accident. Like Gastner, readers may feel stymied until the last evidence turns up, but there is a cleverly planted clue in the early pages. A strong sense of place and tough but compassionate characters distinguish this series. Gastner and his valued friend, deputy Estelle Reyes-Guzman, pull the case together, while Estelle and her doctor husband urge the undersheriff to start caring for himself. (Feb.)