Library: No Murder Aloud

Mystery fans would do well to bypass this book; it is an unfinished work whose details are not well managed. The Santa Linda County library has become a hotbed of unlibrary-like events. California PI Alexandra Winter, prowling around to gather evidence for a case, breaks up a fracas involving Perry Webb (who wants to cut off library funding to save taxes), children's librarian Zoe Latham and a homeless man named Scott Wilson. Shortly thereafter, a friend of Scott's is found dead near the parking lot. Next it is Perry's turn: he is discovered in a storage room, scissors plunged into his ``miserly heart.'' Although the murderer was dressed like Scott, police regard mild-mannered librarian Mark Salinger as a prime suspect. Mark hires Alex to help clear his name, plunging her into the thick of a plot so tangled that even Steiner ( Murder on Her Mind ) doesn't keep it completely straight: Alex is astonished by the nature of some evidence she tracks down, although it has been described to her in detail; also, when Alex conjectures about who framed an innocent man, she seems to forget she interviewed someone who admitted to the dastardly deed. (June)