Trick of Light

Too close to parody for comfort, Hunt's second novel is a sorely strained procedural set in San Francisco. After the hit-and-run death of mentor Maddy Yamada, San Francisco news photographer Kay Farrow tries to unravel what she considers suspicious circumstances. Her first clue is a house with a green door, but Farrow has achromatopsia (color blindness that renders what she sees shades of gray). This might have been ironic, but all irony is spent in the title. Clues in a roll of Yamada's undeveloped black-and-white film lead to a group of collectors of guns (inscribed with ""erotic"" drawings) who are involved in sexual violence and murder. Throughout, the brief, staccato scenes are jargon-filled essays on photography, aikido and beekeeping, among other subjects, none of which lends much texture to the two-dimensional characters. The rich culture of San Francisco is missing; the language is clich d (""Sirens scream! Brakes squeal!""); the secondary cast is littered with stereotypes. By the long overdue ending, readers are not likely to care what happened to Yamada. After the success of the pseudonymous Hunt's debut, The Magician's Tale, this is a letdown indeed. Rights sold in the U.K., France, Germany, Holland and Norway. (Oct.)