Idyll Threats: A Thomas Lynch Novel

Set in 1997, Gayle’s well-written but tame first mystery introduces Thomas Lynch, who has left his action-packed job as a New York City detective to become the police chief of rural Idyll, Conn. But Idyll turns out to be far from idyllic for this closeted gay cop. When Lynch propositions a man he has stopped for speeding and their tryst ends badly, he realizes that the other man could report him and ruin his career. The sympathetic Lynch will show poor judgment on more than one occasion. Meanwhile, the fatal shooting of Cecilia North, a pretty local who recently graduated from college, gives Lynch a real case to work on. The workmanlike plot trots out and discards a series of plausible suspects until the unmasking of the killer. One hopes that the capable Gayle (My Summer of Southern Discomfort) will offer a stronger story line in the sequel. Agent: Ann Collette, Rees Literary Agency. (Sept.)