Tight Lines

Lawyer of choice to wealthy Bostonians, Brady Coyne avoids the term attorney for the pretensions it suggests. But at the behest of his old friend Susan Ames, descendant of an eminent family who have occupied the same Concord house since 1748, he enters into rarified social circles to trace the whereabouts of Susan's only child, Mary Ellen, who all but vanished while a college student 11 years earlier. With little time left for terminally ill Susan why? is she dying? well you might ask/sss and not much information, Brady patiently pursues lines of inquiry. Three murders occur during his investigation, during which he also pays attention to his divorced wife (whom he still calls ``hon'') and begins a relationship with a captivating stranger. In his measured style, Brady moves through Boston's fascinating environs and the colorful autumn countryside of New England as new avenues constantly open up in this well-crafted plot. Having come to know Tapply's vividly depicted characters--where they live, what they wear, what they eat and drink, how they think and feel--readers will delight in the tale's surprising, convincing resolution. (May)