The Caesar Clue: A Micah Dunn Mystery

In a quick-paced sequel to The Maya Stone Murders , New Orleans PI and Vietnam vet Micah Dunn is waiting for a client named Julia Morvant at the airport when her plane explodes; traces of a bomb are found in the wreckage. Dunn, feeling guilty that he couldn't aid Morvant in life, forms a Laura -like obsession with her in death. Her roommate says that Morvant was a high-priced call girl and reports that the last thing Morvant said to her was that she would ``make Marc Antony look like a piker.'' Armed with this useless clue, Dunn is trying to piece Morvant's life together when a Vietnam buddy, now working for a shadowy Pentagon outfit, recruits him to help track down a killer-for-hire named Rivas, believed responsible for the bombing as well as a murder attempt on a congressman and his wife. Dunn must try to discover what terrible reason there could be to murder a planeful of innocent people in order to eliminate one perceived enemy. Shuman's cast is full of recognizable, fully fleshed-out characters, the dialogue is sprightly and realistic, and Dunn's handicap (his left arm doesn't work) is sensitively presented. (Aug.)