Dead in the Water

Things look bad for Rebecca Schwartz's friend Marty Whitehead when a murdered woman is found floating in the famous kelp forest in the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Not only is the victim Sadie Swedlow, Marty's boss at the Aquarium and the seducer of Marty's husband, but she appears to have been stabbed with Marty's distinctive letter opener.16,18 As Rebecca sets out to prove her client's innocence, a plethora of unsavory rumors makes her wonder how well she really knows Marty. Is she a promiscuous, coldblooded woman who drove her husband into Sadie's arms and neglects her children? Would she have murdered Sadie to get her job? Or is the killer Marty's colleague, the devastatingly handsome Julio Soto? When another murder occurs and a valuable gem is missing, suspicion begins to focus on Julio. Meanwhile, Rebecca inexorably falls for the handsome suspect and develops maternal feelings for Marty's two children and for Julio's little girl. A true shocker of an ending sends this well-crafted, if familiar plot into the stratosphere as Rebecca connives to save herself and other would-be victims from a homicidal maniac with gruesome plans for all of them. A first-rate tingler from an Edgar-winning author ( New Orleans Mourning ). (Dec.)