The Gripping Beast

As the winner of the 2000 St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery contest, Wadley's work shows promise, but a reliance on contrivance and clich suggests she's still learning the literary ropes. This debut novel's strengths include the unusual Orkney island setting and a sensitive heroine, Isabel Garth, a young American teacher who comes to Stromness to pay tribute to the memory of her late father, a native of the island, and find out what she can of his past. Straight off the ferry Isabel encounters the local ""witch,"" Thora, who tells her: ""There is danger for you here. I can feel it. Go home."" After someone ransacks her hotel room, steals her drawings and tampers with her car brakes, Isabel has to wonder if she should heed Thora's warning. A buried Viking treasure (a gripping beast is a Viking art motif), a pregnancy Isabel may or may not terminate and, ultimately, Thora's murder all add to the brew of simmering menace (lines from Macbeth head each chapter). Unfortunately, while Wadley keeps the reader well attuned to her protagonist's feelings, her plotting doesn't rise much above the gothic romance level. When at the climax Isabel confronts Thora's killer, a natural disaster all too conveniently intervenes. The lack of topical references may convey a certain timelessness, but their absence also results in a story perhaps more old-fashioned than traditional. Still, there's no reason to think that Wadley can't do better next time. (Apr. 13)