Local Knowledge

The pseudonymous Daly, a practicing attorney, scores a birdie with this spirited first mystery, set in the world of pro-am golf. Kieran Lenahan, the golf pro at Milton Country Club in Westchester County, N.Y., has just earned a berth in a local PGA tournament when the police inform him that the body of one of his club's co-owners has been fished out of a water hazard. Lenahan, a former lawyer, is stunned to hear he has been named in the dead man's will and designated to evaluate a set of rare Blitzklubs, legendary clubs made by the Nazis, for the estate. Then the clubs are stolen, and Lenahan's young shop assistant, a reforming juvenile delinquent, is arrested for the murder. As Lenahan searches for the clubs, tries to free his assistant and prepares to play his opening PGA round, he stumbles on the dead man's marital problems and a case of sibling rivalry. Both seem to supply perfect motives for murder--until Lenahan uncovers the true culprit. Even non-golfers will delight in Lenahan's love of the game and the fairway world. (May)