cover image The Drowning Pool

The Drowning Pool

Jacqueline Seewald, . . Five Star, $25.95 (343pp) ISBN 978-1-59414-755-5

In Seewald's tepid second novel of romantic suspense to feature psychic librarian Kim Reynolds (after The Inferno Collection ), Kim and her police detective boyfriend, Lt. Mike Gardner, look into the murder of Rick Bradshaw, an unrepentant womanizer found floating in the swimming pool of the apartment complex where Kim lives in Webster Township, N.J. Suspects include Rick's fiancée, his current lover, an ex-lover and assorted cuckolded husbands. Gardner welcomes Kim's help on the case, but he's mainly interested in persuading her to marry him. The romantic scenes between the pair flow better than the slow progress of the murder investigation. Some readers may be disappointed that Kim, who's haunted by ghosts, doesn't use her psychic talents until late in the proceedings. (Feb.)