Night of the Ice Storm

Edgar Award winner Stout ( Carolina Skeletons ) opens this well-wrought, suspenseful tale on the evening of an ice storm in upstate New York, during which a Catholic priest is bludgeoned to death. At reporter Grant Siebert's going-away party shortly afterward, the unsolved crime is the hot topic. Another reporter, Marlee West, tape-records the party chatter, as is her custom. Twenty years later, the newspaper celebrates its 90th anniversary; because former staff members have returned for the fete, Marlee hosts an informal get-together, during which she brings out her old tapes. Police beat reporter Ed Sperl hears something on the tape of Grant's party that suggests that the priest's murderer worked at the paper. When Sperl comes to grief, however, investigative reporter Jenifer Hurley and Marlee become involved in a trail of clues leading them back to the priest's murder--and the identity of the killer, who has struck more than once. Stout's prose is deft, his dialogue credible and fast-moving. The denouement, while logical and satisfying, will surprise even the most astute mystery reader. (Apr.)