Selena

In this tedious, repetitious first novel, a tale of greed and faded Southern gentility, a retired archeologist reluctantly returns to his boyhood home in St. Christopher, Fla., at the urgent request of his cousins. Colin Edwards is surprised at the hysterical bickering of Charles Randall and Webster Bull, who are quarreling over a parcel of land they own jointly with Colin and Charles's twin sister, the lovely septuagenarian Selena. Charles believes that a fortune in gold artifacts is buried on the land and wants to excavate, but the others object. When Webster is inexplicably murdered, a shocked Colin begins to learn intimate family secrets. Flashbacks to his youthful infatuation with Selena and competition among the cousins, however, provide only vague clues to present-day developments. Lacking memorable characters and a suspenseful plot, the narrative simply drags on until its big secret can be revealed. The cast of senior citizens could have provided an unusual point of view, but Willey's attitude toward age is too sentimental to be of much interest. ( June )