A HEALTHY BODY
By
An intriguing mystery debut set in Camp Zoe, a French nudist colony--to which ex-policeman Birdie Linnet has trailed ex-wife Olivia, teenage daughter Debbie, and Olivia's lover Ralph Shunner. Birdie, you see, is a man obsessed: he's half-crazed with hatred of Shunner, an accused drug-dealer who used his affair with Olivia to get the narcotics case against him thrown out of court; and Birdie is now determined to get custody of Debbie. Soon, then, with help from mysterious/attractive camp director Nimue Hawthorne, Birdie gets a temporary coaching job that enables him to spy on Shunner. . . until one early morning he finds him dead on the beach. And thereafter Birdie's demented wimpiness diminishes: in fact, by the time Shunner's murderer is revealed (a nice final twist, along with an explanation of the presence of some very unlikely campers), Birdie is all cop again. . . with life starting to look good to him. Smartly plotted, delivered with style and wit: an unusual little suspense debut, distinctly promising.