Corkscrew: A Reid Bennett Mystery

Reid Bennett is the sort of maverick cop whose unorthodox methods rile Canada's police authorities as much as they do its criminal element. Even when relegated by his superiors to the small fishing resort of Murphy's Harbour, he manages to stir up a lethal kettle of fish. The town's waters have yielded a grisly catch: the body of a teenage tourist and, later, that of his stepfather. Each has been murdered and, as the town's only lawman, it's up to Bennett to figure out how and why. The trail leads to a major confrontation with a motorcycle gang that has taken up temporary residence in the town. A group that lives ""by and for terror,'' it is responsible for much of the drug and gun-running in Canada. Aided only by his specially trained dog, Sam, and a visiting actress girlfriend, Bennett manages once again to honor his oath ``to protect the Queen's Peace.'' This is the fifth of Reid Bennett's adventures, each of which provides lots of action, a hero as canny as he is strong and believable, if harrowing, stories from an author who was himself a member of the Toronto police force. (November)