Where It Lies by K.J. Egan

This mystery by lawyer and adjunct instructor in fiction at Westchester Community College, K. J. Egan, gives a refreshing look at life as a golf pro. It took me back to my childhood when we lived along the 3rd fairway of the Minneapolis Golf Club next door to the club's pro. I enjoyed going out with my mother on her late afternoon practice rounds.

The protagonist, assistant pro, Jenny Chase, is in the middle of preparing to play in her first U.S. Open when she discovers the body of the club's grounds keeper hanging in the golf cart barn. The police declare it a suicide, but Jenny and the grounds keeper's widow are not so sure. There are enough twists and turns in the plot, and enough well-honed character development to keep this book interesting from start to finish. I especially like the kind of relationship Jenny is building with her teenage son as a single mom, and I can empathize having gone through some of the same issues.

The book treats the characters as three dimensional people with real lives beyond what they do for a living. That makes the book so much more interesting and so much easier to identify with than some of the flat, cartoon-like mystery novels that are so prevalent out there.

I found it difficult to put it down and literally flew through this book in two or three days. I look forward to more Jenny Chase mysteries from Egan. I'd like to see Jenny actually make the U.S. Open cut and go out on the circuit in an upcoming book. That would make a great setting for murder.

Liz Nichols