Long Lines

Evelyn Wade, an employee of an opinion-research company in Atlanta, is interviewing Bobby Medlock in Chicago when somebody kills him. The noises generated over the telephone by the murder are indistinct, and of no evidentiary use, but Evelyn insists that the police investigate. Meanwhile detective Dean Buettner of Chicago's auto-theft division has been trying to make a case against crime boss Anton Vescovari, his henchman Angie Weiner and an auto ""chop shop'' they operate. Both investigations merge. Even as they do, the murderer sets out to kill Evelyn, not only because her testimony could convict him but because it also might get him killed by the mob. This mystery/suspense thriller is mainly interesting for its description of the progressive degeneration of a cocaine addict, the murderer, who is driven to commit new homicides in a hopeless effort to cover his tracks. Journalist Sutton (Don't Get Taken Every Time) nicely conveys the milieus of Atlanta and Chicago, and his dialogue is appropriately terse. The reader, however, can predict the outcome of the mystery long before it arrives. (January 13)