Charisma

Reclaiming her special niche in the crime fiction genre, Papazoglou ( Sanctity ) takes well-born 35-year-old Susan Murphy out of the convent after 17 years and depicts her life in her native New Haven, Conn. The week that Susan returns to her family's grand house to live with her brothers Dan, the Elm City's DA, and ne'er-do-well Andy, marks the beginning of two crime waves: the murders and ritual markings of former nuns and the execution-style murders of very young male prostitutes. Expertly building suspense, Papazoglou follows Susan as she begins to spend time at Damien House, Father Tom Burne's refuge for street kids in the city's worst section, and cuts to the unidentified murderer who kills nuns under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. New Haven's chief of homicide, Pat Mallory, must try to solve both sets of crimes as he and Susan are drawn together. While the intricate plot begs belief on some central issues, e.g., the pervasive pederasty in New Haven's upper echelons, and fails to resolve others, including the mysterious circumstances of Susan's parents' deaths, on the whole Papazoglou's latest keeps faith with its readers as it leaps to the revelations of its resolution. (Apr.)