OVER THE EDGE

A third outing for mystery writer Melissa Craig (Finishing Touch; A Little Gentle Sleuthing) finds her accompanying her Cotswolds artist neighbor Iris to France, where Iris will teach a two-week course at Philippe Bonard's spanking-new language and culture center, while Melissa researches Camisard history for her new thriller. Then a gay, former student plummets down a cliff and, quickly after, Philippe's assistant Alain gets thwacked with a golf club—and also tumbles over the edge. Is homosexual jealousy at the root of it all—or is the whole sorry mess embroiled in past treacheries by a Gestapo infiltrator? First, a German cad romancing a wealthy English widow is suspected; then the widow's bossy housemate (a devoted golfer). Even the charming Philippe is grilled before Melissa spots the real culprit and ends a half-century of emotional torture. Cardboard characters are trotted out as needed, propped up, and given set-pieces to recite, while flirtations abound. This is the lackluster sort of cozy that demands the heroine refrain from confiding in the police until almost too late. Disappointing.