Murder Is Germane — Karen Saum

A tenuous thread barely holds this flimsy plot above water. Lesbian investigator Brigid Donovan enmeshes herself in old family relationships while trying to ascertain the whereabouts of one Carlos Brown. Supposedly a government agent searching for a drug connection between a so-called religious community and South American refugees, Brown figures mostly as a weak point of reference. Brigid jumps from Maine to Panama, questions relatives, hopes for romance, and gratuitously attracts the wrong sort of attention. No real motivation, conviction, or transition.