Ice Pick Artist

Depression-era South Dakota is the undisputed territory of itinerant painter Carl Wilcox (Hatchet Job, 1996), knight-errant of the Plains whose laconic ways are perfectly rooted in his time and place. Carl's at his family's home in Corden, helping out at the Hotel Wilcox because of his father's poor health. Three separate guests arrive the same day: Lilybell Fox from Sioux Falls brings the promise of good times; a mug named Murdoff offers more sinister prospects; and a young man named James Olson seems a complete cipher. By the next morning, Lilybell is dead and the two men have disappeared. All Carl knew about Lilybell was that she was looking into the family history of Colonel Cameron Cutter, one of the founders of Corden. Carl takes up that task hoping for a lead to her killer; what he finds is a snarl of relatives and more than one motive for murder. Everyone has a tale to tell or to hide. Carl's Model T eats up a lot of miles as he collects the background and gossip needed to identify and flush out the killer. The characters in Adams's long-running series wear the ways and views of their era with a natural, convincing grace. (Nov.)