Castle Rock

First published in 1983, this romantic suspense novel in the Carolyn Hart classics series offers deft but familiar melodrama. With the apparently accidental death of Dan MacIntire, "owner of the magnificent Castle Rock ranch," beautiful, spunky, high-strung Serena Mallory, Dan's ward, takes on the huge responsibility of running the vast New Mexico ranch. There's so much to worry about! Could Dan have been murdered? Why has someone set up a clandestine landing strip in a rugged area nearby? Why has her hangdog suitor, Will, become a guilt-ridden drunk? Why are the paying guests at the ranch behaving suspiciously? What are the rapacious heirs plotting? And, above all, what is hunky ranch hand Jed Shelton%E2%80%94whose kisses inflame Serena but who is Not What He Seems%E2%80%94really after? A lovingly handled setting and brisk action compensate for a plot used many times before. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agency. (Feb.)