Picture Postcard: A Mystery

Seattle lawyer Matt Riordan returns to narrate the follow-up to Huebner's Edgar nominee Judgment by Fire . Generally engrossing but ultimately a letdown, the story starts when Matt's lover, Lisa Thayer, receives a postcard bearing a recently painted watercolor that seems to be the work of her grandfather, Lee Thayer. However, Lee, a famous artist of the Pacific northwest school, has been dead for years, and the fresh picture suggests art forgery. Questioning the provenance of several pricey paintings by her grandfather, Lisa and Matt are targeted by hired killers. As the lawyer-detective investigates, he finds proof that a conspiracy to sell fake artwork and launder money for drug kingpins also involves the murder of Anton Petrov, a contemporary of Lee's. Petrov had served over 30 years for killing a woman both he and Lee had loved in their student days, a circumstance that further complicates an already convoluted plot. The final outcome, clear to readers early on, revolves around a protracted ``confession'' that seriously challenges the novel's credibility. (May)