Long in the Tooth

In Turrill's uneven fourth novel, Tinker "Tin" Balune is haunted by the ghosts of his murdered wife, Wendy, and his father, who committed suicide. Tin also mourns the disappearance of his fugitive older brother, Satchel, who remains the primary suspect in Wendy's death by bludgeoning. Tin, 30, retreats to his family's abandoned cabin in northern Michigan, where, filled with despair and Jim Beam, he resolves to drown himself in the lake. Moira, the teenage daughter of his neighbor Sweeney (though she's eternally unclear about her paternal lineage), thwarts his plan and becomes Tin's sustaining force and sex kitten, though her status as savior to such a despondent man is a tough sell for the reader. After a plodding introduction, the unlikely couple discovers a cryptic note from Satchel claiming he kidnapped Sweeney and will kill him if Tin doesn't save him within 24 hours. Tin and Moira race to Chicago to uncover the truth (did Satchel really kill Wendy and kidnap Sweeney? If not, who did?), no easy proposition given the gauntlet of shady characters the duo encounter along the way. The pace picks up once the setting moves to the city, but the tension remains too slack throughout. (Sept.)