Twanged

March 1, 1997
Although Clark's last mystery, Iced, was "characterized by stick figures and stereotypes" (LJ 6/1/95), it sold more than 120,000 copies in hardcover. Here, series sleuth Regan Reilly guards an imperiled country music star named Budget.

February 1, 1998
It's summertime, and Regan Reilly is called back home from Los Angeles to the Hamptons on New York's Long Island to protect her friend Brigid O'Neill, an up-and-coming country singer with a knack for fiddling who'll be performing at the local Melting Pot Music Festival. Brigid has been given a legendary old fiddle by Ireland's champion fiddler, Malachy Sheerin, but legend has it that to take this fiddle out of Ireland will bring bad luck to the owner. Multimillionaire Chappy Tinka wants the instrument, which bears the initials C.T., and he's prepared to do anything to claim it for himself. An array of amusing but not necessarily deep supporting characters adds to this light but well-composed mystery. Humorous rather than chiller thriller, this is a nice buy for Clark fans and for those mystery readers who have not read her but who enjoy Joan Hoss and Charlotte McLeod. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/97.]--Alice DiNizo, Raritan P.L., N.J.