THE TUESDAY MAN

Murders on Martha's Vineyard take a local policeman into the dark heart of a political campaign—in a police thriller by the author of Ark (1985). Similarities to real-life events in Massachusetts vacationland begin with the energetic but adulterous coupling of a pair of enthusiastic political-campaign workers. However, the candidate whose rhetoric excited the about-to-be murdered couple is not the heavyset party animal of tabloid fame. It is Timothy Murphy, the charismatic senator from Indiana, a one-time POW in Vietnam with a fair chance of knocking out America's incumbent vice-president in the upcoming elections. The couple were murdered by someone keen on retrieving the last roll of film shot by one of the victims, and it seems to be the only evidence of Senator Murphy's secret—but apparently innocuous—meeting with an unknown woman. Martha's Vineyard's underfinanced little police force has all it can do to keep up with the influx of tourists and can ill spare the time island native Eric Thorne must spend on the investigation, but Thorne persists, linking himself professionally and pleasurably with Lorraine Patton, Murphy's admiring biographer. The much-sought snapshot comes into Thorne's hands and poses an interesting question: How could it be that the senator's famous POW tattoo comes and goes? The answer lies ultimately in the Bahamas, where rotten CIA agents lurk, Murphy's reclusive billionaire backer hides in his mansion, and a never terribly famous movie beauty ponders Murphy's secrets. Full of action, but the senator's scandalous secret will surprise very few readers. It will irritate many.