DEATH FROM THE SNOWS

The sequel to Aubert’s prizewinning 1997 thriller Death from the Woods, in which accident victim Else Andrioli, left blind, mute, and quadriplegic, nevertheless helped bring a serial child murderer to justice. Now partially recovered, and having become a kind of wheelchair-bound Jessica Fletcher, Elise finds her sleuthing skills engaged once again, at an endangered ski resort. Aubert plots well, Elise’s wit is as understandably and agreeably funereal as before, and the story certainly has its moments. Still, one hopes the premise won’t be expanded into a series: Death from the Woods was, hélas, an unrepeatable triumph.