Speak for the Dead

Yorke invests her latest with the qualities that mark its 30 predecessors: well-defined characterizations and the ambience of British locales. If the author fails to succeed entirely here, she is nevertheless intriguing, creating a mystery about the union of a deceitful pair. In London, Gordon Matthews is freed after serving a minimum sentence for murdering his wife. Meeting pretty, seemingly innocent Carrie Foster, he tells her he is divorced, and she marries him. It's the case of a trickster tricked, for Carrie doesn't reveal her life as a prostitute. The couple settles down in suburbia where Carrie soon tired of her whining, jobless husband and goes back ``on the game.'' While traveling to London by train, she attracts Nicholas Fitzmaurice, a young student who becomes obsessed by her. Pretending she's single and in love with Nicholas, Carrie sneaks out on dates with him, thus setting the stage for a tragedy and the mystery's synthetic denouement. Events don't quite jell because of too many issues and actors: the bitter parents of Gordon's murdered first wife, his nasty mother and others. All psychologically sound and extremely interesting, they are mostly (alas) beside the point. (Nov.)