cover image Scavengers

Scavengers

Yvonne Montgomery. Arbor House Publishing, $16.95 (245pp) ISBN 978-0-87795-897-0

A hitherto-unknown Mark Twain manuscript, The Death of Huckleberry Finn, lies at the heart of all the trouble in this smartly paced mystery set in Denver. Finny Aletter is a savvy stockbroker who's decided to give up her career in finance to pursue another in old-house restoration. Going to the house of her boss and mentor, also her former lover, to tell him of her decision, she finds him dead of a gunshot wound. The next day she discovers that office gossip and politics have combined to make her a prime suspect in the case. Keeping one step ahead of formal charges, Finny starts her own investigation, tracing the manuscript, running afoul of the victim's family and beginning a nicely orchestrated love-hate relationship with the police officer in charge of the case. Street people, cops, white-collar coke addicts and rabid bibliophiles figure into the solution of this mystery introducing a quick and likable amateur sleutha Nancy Drew with an M.B.A. and a sex life. (May 22)