FULL-BODIED RED

Bad news for Bay Area phobia therapist Quinn Parker (Blood Under the Bridge, 1989; Thicker Than Water, 1991): his agoraphobic client Phillip Chesterton, winery heir, has vanished; Phillip's bearish stepfather Frank Matson is convinced Quinn knows where he is; and the morning after Quinn and Matson duke it out, Matson disappears himself and the police take on the job of suspecting Quinn. While he copes with the everyday traumas of Hank Wilkie, the jobless comedian friend who's moved in with him, Quinn tries to map out the links among Phillip's experienced girlfriend Suzy Wong; his mother's old friend Leslie McCall, a struggling small vintner and wine columnist; and a surprisingly twisty blackmail plot centered on Frank's exploits in Vietnam. Quinn is as good company as ever: it's a pleasure running one step ahead of him all the way to the final payoff.