Old Enemies

A satisfying blend of domestic and wild life, LaPierre's ( Grandmother's House ) latest Meg Halloran mystery finds the schoolteacher on a trip with her teenaged daughter, Katy. After touring a wolf refuge, they visit Lauren Cavalier, Meg's former student, at her Modoc County, Calif., ranch where they find that hostility can flourish in even the most bucolic setting. A tense town meeting on the subject of grazing rights concludes with a fistfight between two brothers, Chuck and Marv Jakel. Lauren drives the badly beaten Chuck to his home, entrusting her two young children and her elderly Aunt Frances to Meg. The next morning, the police arrive to speak with Lauren: Chuck has been murdered. But Lauren has vanished, just as her brother did 10 years before. Meg and Katy dig in, caring for the kids as well as irascible Frances, and Meg chats up the locals, hoping to sniff out some information. Lauren's husband, a renowned nature photographer, breezes in from his latest field work and comes under official scrutiny. As Meg continues to probe (hoping she can track down Lauren and escape from this ``vacation''), she uncovers enough local and family feuding to keep her and the reader guessing until the finale. (Oct.)