A beautiful woman jumps from Washington politics into a Cape Cod murder investigation in Hough's latest, which begins in 1968 when 39-year-old Claire Maleck suddenly walks out on her secretarial job for a prominent senator after her affair with him puts her on the short end of a criminal coverup. With her 14-year-old daughter in tow, Claire takes a brief but difficult hiatus with her mother in Cambridge, then heads off on a whimsical day trip to Cape Cod, where she gets herself hired as a neophyte reporter for a smalltown paper called the Covenant. Once she learns the ropes, Claire finds herself attracted to the editor's son, Lane Hillman, a precocious college student who spends his summers developing his formidable talent as a writer and reporter. The two quickly become a couple after they pair up to begin covering stories, but they get more than they bargained for when a double murder lands them in the middle of a setup by the local police chief, Paul Williams, a corrupt womanizer who sets his sights on Claire. Hough's talent for characterization and succinct, crisp dialogue serves him well in the early going, although the climax in which Williams lures Claire down a remote Cape Cod road begs for some meatier prose, and elements of the plot seem predictable and familiar. Hough (A Two-Car Funeral) easily integrates the historical events of 1968—Bobby Kennedy's murder, the Democratic Convention in Chicago—and his eye and ear for the rhythms of smalltown seaside life help bring the problematic romance between Lane and Claire to life. His ability to balance compassion with an understanding of moral complexity adds substance to the narrative and elevates this book above the standard murder mystery–cum–love story. Agent, B.J. Robbins. (July)
