Sign of Foul Play

Connor Westphal, deaf journalist and sleuth, is caught up once again in the more lethal happenings of Flat Skunk, Calif. After her successful first outing in Dead Body Language, the wisecracking thirty-something Connor continues to deal with her attraction to the local hunk and her search for any story other than the local frog-racing contest to give her newspaper The Eureka! an edge over the competition. Readers will guess who the killer is and be aghast at Connor's intrepid pursuit--anything for a headline. Through Connor's spunky first-person narrative, Warner, long a sign-language and special-ed teacher, perfectly conveys all the ways a deaf person perceives and communicates--the guessing game of oral conversation, telephone contact with hearing people, the beauty of sign language. As in the first Connor mystery, it is not wise to read the last couple of chapters before bedtime: this is delicious horror from gory beginning to ghastly end. (Jan.)