Clear-Cut Murder: A Frank Carver/Ginny Trask Mystery

A skillful blend of environmental issues and gripping suspense is again in evidence as the two amateur detectives Wallingford introduced in Cold Tracks collaborate on another case. This time, forest service employee Ginny Trask and her boss, former police detective Frank Carver, are faced with the death of environmentalist professor Ward Tomasovic, shot after he returns home from a speech in Washington, D.C., in which he implied that loggers and environmentalists should work together in addressing the issue of clear cutting, i.e., cutting back and setting fire to an overgrown area of trees to produce new wildlife habitats. Ward's onetime lover, Earth Action! leader Rachel Davis, is angered by his betrayal. At Ward's memorial, she vows that Earth Action! will protest the latest ruling on a government land sale to Charlie Zellers, a lumber baron who years earlier had run Ward out of town for wanting to marry his daughter. Busy with another murder, the local sheriff leaves the investigation of Ward's murder to Frank, Ginny and a motley assortment of untrained Forest Service personnel. Hampered by his untrained crew, Frank delves into Ward's past to find the link to his killing. Readers will come away from this smartly told story with a better understanding of the heated issue of clear-cutting. (July)