GOING LOCAL

It's his first day back on the job after getting shot at the climax of The Edge of the Crazies (1995), and already Absaroka County Sheriff Jules Clement has to tangle with two more homicides: environmental lawyer Otto Scobey and his girlfriend, Blue Deer bookkeeper Bonnie Siskowitz, the two of them run down in their snappy little tent and then dumped, Saab, tent, and all, into a convenient reservoir. Since Otto had maintained a close relationship with his ex-wife, land baroness Sylvia Coburg, and her business and romantic partner, movie director Hugh Lesy, all sorts of motives hover invitingly, from the highest crimes and misdemeanors (a bold, sneaky land deal Sylvia was masterminding) to the lowest (more mindless violence from abusive Genie Jordan, Bonnie's volatile, stupid former boyfriend). And as in Harrison's toothsome debut, there's a double helping of zany locals, strewn across the landscape like so many jumping beans. But this time the mixture isn't quite as fresh as before: Despite a brightly fatal rodeo sequence, the story gets becalmed in subplots halfway through, and the leading characters, sparkling as they are, don't have much more depth than the walk-ons. Still, this second helping of Blue Deer madness will keep you cheering Absaroka County's status as Montana's murder capital while you're waiting for the franchise's next move.