The Dutch Treat Murders

When Winston Wyc stumbles on murder in New York's Hudson River Valley, he proves he's not just your average architectural historian but an entertaining amateur sleuth as well. Wyc has been hired as a consultant to the Oblates of Tranquil Deliverance, who offer weekend retreats for frazzled yuppies. Alas, even here serenity is in short supply: the small, worldly governing board is deeply divided on the disposal of Smelton Castle, home of the Oblates. A few members want Wyc's help in getting the structure declared a historical monument. Businessman Justin Barefoot and his accountant favor selling the castle and the valuable real estate it's planted on. A new twist is added to the argument when Barefoot's corpse is spotted floating in the Hudson. Mary Bartlett, a local reporter, begins nosing around; she and Wyc quickly hit it off, and by the time a second body--this time a stranger's--bobs to the river's surface, they're old friends. Together they discover why the retreat has some very unholy-looking nuns, the identity of an elderly man who resembles ``Bozo the Clown on drugs'' and what it is about the place that is worth committing murder for. Johnston wrote The Good Luck Murders. (Dec.)