Murder Take Two

When a movie crew commandeers the small town of Hampstead, Kans., the tiny police force is hard-pressed to guard the location sites. The death of a stunt woman--whose jump into a haystack fatally reveals a hidden pitchfork--adds significantly to the trouble for Hampstead's chief of police, Susan Wren, in her fourth appearance (Winter Widow). As Susan, a former San Francisco cop, becomes embroiled in the mercurial personalities involved in the production, she is surprised to learn that her most experienced officer (and love interest), Ben Pankhurst, was once married to Laura Edwards, the star of the picture. Taking him off the case, she must rely on her less trained deputy, Yancy, who has been providing security for the company. Learning that Laura has been receiving threatening notes, Susan wonders if the pitchfork was really meant for her. Further incidents complicate the case: the stuntwoman's boyfriend is pushed into the path of Yancy's car, an actress is stabbed. Yancy's forgetful mother becomes involved in the crimes, and then the young deputy himself is lured to a secluded spot, where he is stabbed and has his gun stolen. Although Weir adds a funny subplot about a skulking midnight artist who paints nudes on garbage cans, snippets of the killer's thoughts interspersed throughout blunt the suspense. (Mar.)