Blinded by the Sight

Merely serviceable prose and a simplistic plot undermine Scott's debut, a police procedural set in St. Paul, Minn. Lt. Pete Culnane, a veteran officer of the St. Paul PD, must track down the murderer responsible for gunning down a homeless man, whose corpse is found by two preteen boys, Bill Brown and Tim Grey. The victim, who had a diamond ring on one of his fingers, is identified as 29-year-old Bradford Winthrup, who lived on Chicago's upscale Lake Shore Drive and worked for a marketing company. To solve the case, Culnane and his partner must first figure out how Winthrup went from a white-collar job to the gutter. Bill and Tim bolt before they can be thoroughly questioned, and too many pages dwell on the police efforts to locate and interview them. Once revealed, the motive for the killing will strike most readers as somewhat improbable. (Sept.)