DEAD OF NIGHT

On the advice of her agent, a novelist afflicted with writer’s block relocates to an isolated retreat far away. It’s not a happy choice.

Thirty years ago, Dani Duprie, having spotted an unknown woman giving her the once-over, persuaded her husband, Bill, to pack up their 10-year-old daughter and pull up stakes yet again for an undisclosed but very urgent reason. The mysterious circumstances of their departure from the Cliff House still have the locals buzzing, but the buzz hasn’t reached Serena Winters, the well-known author of 11 Layne Farraday mysteries, until after she’s settled in the Cliff House. “Settled” may not be the best word, since she’s greeted by a series of anonymous messages beginning with “LEAVE TOWN NOW” and then escalating in their threats. When housekeeper Wanda Stockwell accuses her of moving to Cliff House in order to exploit the Dupries’ disappearance, Serena takes this as a karmic invitation to dive into the case with Seaton Point police Chief Jack Beaumont, who’s at least equally interested in her. All the while, Gray’s been shuttling repeatedly into the past to follow the fortunes of bad-girl Ruby Bryant, tossed out of her old home back in 1983 because she refused to accept her mother’s latest lover, who seemed to have an eye on her as well. Eventually the two narratives come together in a way that will surprise only newcomers to the genre. In fact, the biggest limitation in this propulsive mystery is a distinct lack of mystery. It’s nice to report, however, that Serena’s latest opus gets well underway.

Familiar thrills more effective as individual shivers than parts of a whole.