Night of Reunion

This comfortably domestic suspense thriller opens as Christine Helstrum, mad escapee from a New York asylum, drives a stolen car through freezing weather to Colorado, bent on vengeance against Alex Whitaker and his family, whom she blames for her misery. Years before, she put her son up for adoption, then, jealous, she killed the boy and his adoptive mother, Alex's first wife. Now Alex has remarried. His new wife Sarah, owner of a beauty salon, also has a son. Cheerfully oblivious, Alex, Sarah and six-year-old Brian get ready for Christmas. After learning that Christine is at large, they hear noises in the basement, find beheaded mice, broken latches and food missing from the fridge. Such teasing details lose their terror for readers who are kept abreast of Christine's whereabouts and plans. After a menacingly bizarre woman shows up in Sarah's shop demanding a stylish hairdo, fancy footwork on the part of Sarah and Brian wrap up the plot. Allegretto won the Shamus award for Death on the Rock. First serial to Good Housekeeping. (Apr.)