B.O.Q.: An NCIS Special Agent Fran Setliff Novel

Simpson introduces an appealingly tenacious heroine in her first mystery. Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent Fran Setliff looks into the suspicious death of Ann Buckhalter, the wife of retired Lt. Col. Gary Buckhalter and a journalist with the Jacksonville Daily Observer, who was staying in the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune. Ann drowned in the river that runs through the base. A routine investigation leads in several sensitive directions: the Buckhalters’ 15-year-old daughter, Deirdre, is involved in a possible statutory rape case against a Marine PFC; Ann may have leaked unauthorized information to an editor at the Observer; and Ann knew about a sexual discrimination lawsuit being filed against the base’s commanding general. Simpson uses her experience as a military spouse and a journalist to vividly depict camp life and the manifold pitfalls contained in “conduct unbecoming,” but the resulting resolution is likely to satisfy few readers. (Mar.)