WHERE EVIL SLEEPS

In concept, this mystery series is just what the genre ordered. It features a single working mother--a middle-aged African-American ex-cop who now works as a New Jersey private detective. But concept is no match for execution, and Rebecca Nicholas doesn't have what it takes to lift Wesley's various characters above what are little more than tiresome exercises in frustrated self-analysis. Just as Wesley tends to talk her story to death, Nicholas doesn't do the novel any favor by settling for simplistic characterizations of mood and motive. Whether she's voicing the desires of a Jamaican man, a New Jersey teenaged boy or the protagonist herself, Nicholas demonstrates that she's no better than the author at knowing the difference between real drama and mere pretense. D.A.W. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 99]