The Curious Eat Themselves

With the second adventure of Cecil Younger, a PI in southeastern Alaska, Straley reconfirms his claim to the regional territory he staked out in The Woman Who Married a Bear . Louise Root, who was raped at the Global gold mine where she worked as a cook, hires Cecil to gather evidence of the crime, although she won't tell him who assaulted her. Only days later, Louise's body is pulled from a river, her throat slit. Cecil is soon hired by Global's Lee Altman and Charlie Potts, who want to know ``everything'' about environmentalist Steven Mathews. They pay in cash, want no written records of the transaction and warn Cecil to ``stay clear of this Louise Root thing.'' But social worker Hannah Elder, Cecil's former lover and Louise's childhood friend, has no qualms about involving Cecil in her probe of Louise's death, especially after she discovers in Louise's things letters addressed to Steven marked ``return to sender.'' Once past the gimmicky assignments that initiate the plot, Straley's atmospheric prose takes hold and the action hums along, through unethical dealings and more killings, to the rugged, backwoods Alaska finale. Author tour. (Sept.)