Love Lies

Fran Meltzer is an assertive, middle-aged English professor at a small Midwestern college, but even her determined sleuthing and beguiling romantic entanglements can't salvage this humdrum suspense tale by the author of No Regrets . Fran's best friend, Julia, is a suspect in the murder of Julia's husband, Tyler, a physical fitness buff and dedicated philanderer whose body has been found in the school gym with a 300-pound barbell across his neck. Who would want to kill Tyler, an impassioned philosophy professor (specializing in ethics) and a highly regarded poet? The picturesque campus, bristling with academic rivalries, provides several suspects: the alcoholic teacher whose tenure is endangered by Tyler's review committee; Tyler's current lover, a student who's nowhere to be found; even his seemingly docile wife, who's enraged by Tyler's latest infidelity--and is also in line to receive a fortune in life insurance upon his death. The kindly and gentle police detective investigating the case forms an immediate bond with Fran; working together, they undertake what regrettably proves to be some extremely low-key detection, interrogating several bland personalities residing in the nearly colorless town. The monotony will have most readers losing interest in the who, how and why long before they reach the climactic final pages. (July)