At the outset of Conwell's middling 10th Tony Boudreaux mystery (after 2008's The Crystal Skull Murders
), San Antonio resident Ted Odom hires the Austin, Tex., PI to track down a valuable map Odom's father left him as an inheritance. Besides showing parts of the African and South American coasts, the ancient Piri Reis map accurately depicts the Antarctic coastline, which hasn't been free of ice for 6,000 years. Odom can't be sure whether one of the many people who covet the map stole it, or whether his father, a puzzle addict, just hid it extremely well. The senior Odom's death was ruled an accident, but Boudreaux suspects foul play after traveling to San Antonio to get the lay of the land and meet the players. Boudreaux's hard-boiled voice doesn't always ring true (“As cynical as it sounds, people tell lies”), and most readers will have little trouble figuring out whodunit before the author reveals the answer. (June)
