Shadow House

A young woman seeks the truth behind her sister's death in this fair-to-middling mystery focused on a small town and its secrets. Annie Honeycut dies in a night fall from the roof of the Owen Mansion in Lewiston, Colo., while on an assignment to photograph sites of old murders and scandals. After the funeral, her divorced sister Nora flies in from Iowa to settle Annie's affairs. The last shot on the film in Annie's camera indicates that someone had been near Annie when she fell. After the local police chief discounts her suggestions of foul play, Nora teams up with Annie's lover, Thomas Whitney, whom she finds disturbingly attractive, to investigate. They probe the dark secrets of the old mining town, once dominated by the Owen family, whose last member is an ancient recluse living with an elderly caretaker who had tried to prevent Annie from approaching the house. Allegretto's ( The Suitor ; the Jake Lomax series) tale is marred by one-dimensional characters and a telegraphed solution. (June)