Dead Ends: Dead Ends

Something has gone awry at Ireland's Cromlech Lodge. James Fleming, a Dublin solicitor and occasional sleuth, just happens to be staying at the inn to draw up a will for the owner when an overweight and unappealing guest topples down the main staircase and dies on the dining room floor. What follows this unfortunate demise is a cerebral mystery story that turns bloody only in the final pages. As he investigates, Fleming discovers a diary kept by a woman who lived at the lodge during its previous incarnation as a ``home for the bewildered.'' Even some corny writing--Fleming knows that he must locate the murderer by identifying the person with a ``lusting to kill'' in his or her heart--doesn't slow down this well-paced story. The upscale setting with its creepy past provides atmosphere, although Fallon ( Where Death Lies ) sometimes relies on stereotypes to bolster lesser characters such as Fleming's confidant, who lives with a patient wife and a brood of children and thinks mostly of his next glass of ale. (Dec.)