Shiny Water

A tough, quirky narrator carries this engrossing debut. Dr. Michael Stone--her unusual name was bestowed when her adored father was in his cups--is a forensic psychologist and court advocate for sexually abused children in Vermont. A transplanted Southerner who often understands children better than adults, Michael has never quite recovered from the death of her own baby daughter; now she immerses herself in work and cultivates a taste for married men. She suffers a heartbreaking defeat when a judge awards custody of two children to the father she is certain abused them. She's perplexed as well as horrified when, shortly thereafter, the children are murdered, and their mother, Sharon Southworth (whom Michael had judged unbalanced but not violent), is the chief suspect. Then a page from Toni Morrison's Beloved, annotated in Michael's handwriting, turns up in Sharon's diary. While on a visit to her contentious North Carolina family, Michael is summoned back to Vermont for questioning--and her relationship with Adam Bowman, the police chief she's been attracted to in the past, turns chillier. Salter sounds some false notes, particularly when a Hannibal Lecter-like prisoner helps Michael discover the true killer. But her skillful pacing, a gift for sketching minor characters and a clear passion about the fate of abused children add texture to an admirably suspenseful tale with a genuinely surprising conclusion. (July)