Flashback: A Reid Bennett Mystery

The one-man police department of Murphy's Harbour, Ont., confronts a rising wave of crime and his own imminent fatherhood in the sixth Reid Bennett mystery (after On the Inside ). Wood, a former Toronto policeman with a finely tuned sense of procedure, weaves a variety of plot elements--a gang of teenagers savaging local businesses, a stolen car found submerged in the lake, a series of homicides, a drug-running outfit and a vengeful escaped felon--into a single intricate tale. Assisting Reid is his German shepherd, Sam, a multitalented utility infielder who can ``keep,'' ``track,'' ``seek,'' ``fight,'' ``guard,'' sniff out cocaine and corpses, save lives and generally pinch-hit for a dozen patrolmen. Despite abundant, deftly detailed action, the narrative begins to pall under a surfeit of murders. Yet the wrap-up leaves everything tidily in place, even the new baby. (Sept.)