Set in 2002, this stand-alone will likely disappoint fans of Shamus-winner Fulmer’s acclaimed Valentine St. Cyr series set in early 20th-century New Orleans (Lost River
, etc.). Richard Zale, a New York City actor who makes his living from doing TV commercials, starts thinking by chance of his best friend, Joey Sesto, back in their hometown of Wyanossing, Pa. When Richard tries to phone Joey, he reaches Joey’s sister, Angela, his old flame. A distraught Angela reveals Joey fell to his death from a cliff three weeks earlier. Impulsively, Richard drives to Wyanossing, where he becomes convinced Joey was the victim of foul play. Newly attracted to Angela, he puts off his return to his wife and kids in Manhattan again and again. Heavy-handed prose (“Somewhere in that dark shade lurked an evil that had been visited upon my friend”) doesn’t help a routine tale of amateur detecting. (Mar.)
