Full Circle

The usual cast of dysfunctional characters is present in this rambling, overpopulated tale of family entanglements by the author of Good Girls. Burned out and suspended for making bad judgment calls in the E.R., trauma specialist Dr. Kate Madison returns to her Louisiana hometown for some much-needed R&R. Things aren't much better there: Mama's dying of cancer; her old flame, Sam (with whom she'd had an extramarital affair), has just lost his wife; and her best friend, Amber, is getting back at her abusive husband, Deke, by fooling around with her teenage stepson. No one sheds a tear when Deke is murdered, and nearly everyone is under suspicion--especially Amber and her young lover. The author moves the story along by repeatedly allowing the characters to be caught in compromising sexual situations by family members; after the third such incident, the reader begins to lose interest in who's having sex with whom, as well as in who killed Deke--the only real surprise in this tired melodrama. (Jan.)