Summer Games

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

If a timely topic and expertise in such diverse subplot topics as whitewater paddling and forensic therapy were enough, Wylly would have a winner with her first mystery. Unfortunately, her plotting and writing skills don't match these other qualifications. This story's heroine, a clinical social worker named Pris Hannaford, plunges into the center of the upcoming Olympics when she's asked to counsel a world-class swimmer, Ryan Acer, who is charged with murdering a teammate. Pris thinks not only that Ryan is innocent but also that he's a hunk. To find the real killer, they paddle through some extremely dangerous rapids on the Chattooga Rivera climax laboriously set up (and essentially defused) by a protracted opening scene full of travel-brochure description and clichd danger. Adding to the insult are banal chapter titles ("The Chase"; "The Escape"; "Lies And Circumstantial Evidence") that telegraph the action. No medals will be awarded here. (July)