The Big Freeze

PI Murray Glick, sportscaster Andy Sussman and his wife, Susie, protagonists of Last Dance in Redondo Beach , are back to solve their third mystery, a trite endeavor short on tension and subtlety. The plot hinges on a gimmick, namely, the manuscript of a mystery penned by Glick, who has disappeared while working on a case in Sunburst, Colo., where 19-year-old college dropout Dani Kaplan was last seen; he has been hired by the young woman's mother to find her. Having talked his network into letting him cover the World Cup ski races in Sunburst, Andy and Susie pick up the trail where the manuscript leaves off. Dani's last known companion, ski in- structor Casey Wright, is embroiled in plans to develop the national forest as ski slopes. Forest Service rangers oppose the plan, and one of them, linked to Dani, has been killed, supposedly in an avalanche. Andy and Susie must discover who would have the most to lose if the development is halted. Before long, some ski bunnies try to murder Susie, and both Murray and Dani reappear. The identity of the evil developer comes as no surprise, but Katz's deadpan humor helps to redeem a less than riveting plot. (Mar.)