cover image The Wolf Whispered Death

The Wolf Whispered Death

Barbara Moore. St. Martin's Press, $15.95 (230pp) ISBN 978-0-312-88640-0

New Mexico rancher Fawkes is mysteriously and horribly killed by a wolf or a feral dog. The local Navajos, however, fear a legendary white man-wolf. Veterinarian Gordon Christy (The Doberman Wore Black agrees to help his Navajo friend Sam in solving the mystery (Sam's family is suspected of witchcraft), but Christy must also deal with his own growing phobia of dogs. One of the rancher's half-Navajo sons is then killed by the same ""beast,'' and it looks as if someone may be using an attack animal; further mysteries arise regarding sacred Hopi and Navajo artifacts and the Fawkes estate. Moore provides some interesting animal and Navajo lore but most of the characters are not very involving, including Christy. He's possibly the most sexless sleuth since the young Ellery Queen, with a propensity for self-induced fright. And after readers have been given rather more detail than they need, the author turns annoyingly reticent just before the climax. (March 31)