cover image Ghosttown

Ghosttown

Mercedes Lambert, . . Five Star, $25.95 (257pp) ISBN 978-1-59414-588-9

Lambert’s powerful third Whitney Logan novel (after 1996’s Soultown and 1991’s Dogtown ) concludes the story of the troubled Los Angeles attorney. Having scrambled for years to get her career off the ground, Logan, thwarted by drink and depression, becomes the court-appointed lawyer for Tony Red Wolf, recently arrested on misdemeanor charges. Logan finds him surly and attractive, and soon has him out on bail. That evening he calls her to a meeting place where he shows her the butchered body of one of his female friends, claiming to have nothing to do with the murder. Unsure whether to believe him, Logan delves into the little-examined subculture of Native Americans living in Los Angeles while slipping ever further into her own dark world of personal demons. With its memorable characters, sharp dialogue and ever-increasing mood of uncertainty, fear and menace, the narrative builds to a startling and fantastical conclusion. Lambert was the pseudonym of Douglas Anne Munson (1948–2003), whose tragic story her literary executor describes in an afterword. Michael Connelly provides an appreciative introduction. (Aug.)