Laid Dead

This elaborately plotted English golfing mystery will keep the reader, lucky duffer, guessing right up to the end--not as to the identity of the villain but as to his motive. (It does no harm to reveal that the greenhouse effect is involved.) Cork ( Unnatural Hazard , Dead Ball ) gives his series hero, Inspector Angus Straun, bestselling author, golfing ace and Maserati fancier, a number of intriguing puzzles to solve. It all starts when Straun's ex-wife asks him to rescue her extremely rich Dutch amour, Dirk Jager, from the clutches of Freddy Wong, a Chinese-American con man. Wong turns out to be an entertaining scamp while Jager seems to be a nasty piece of work. Did Jager murder a golfing partner who appeared to have stepped into his backswing? Why was the pro shop of their golf course so thoroughly cleaned out by burglars? And why did the pro disappear? The reader should keep an eye on the ball, which is that the victim of a scam almost inevitably has larceny in his or her heart. (Apr.)