Slippery Slopes and Other Deadly Things
A Carrie Carlin Biofeedback Mystery
By Nancy Tesler 

     What's a biofeedback practitioner to do when a conference honoring your field's Jonas Salk (who gropes you in a hot tub with his wedding-banded hand) becomes a bloodbath on skis, you're under suspicion for murder because your scarf apparently strangled one of the victims, your entire vocation comes under attack by fanatic fellow doctors, and all the while your cheating ex-husband and homicide-cop love of your life insist on making your emotions spike off the EEG scale?

     If you're biofeedback practitioner and heroine Carrie Carlin, you "get your kicks out of livin' dangerously" (as anti-biofeedback antagonist Flo Zimmer says), act like a lightning rod for assassins, and stick your nose in where it doesn't belong. When people around married but roving-handed conference honoree Dr. Hubert Freundlich start dying, it's up to the much-suspected much-shot-at Carrie (whose scarf puts her under suspicion) to unravel the mystery on the Vermont ski slopes. In true amateur-detective fashion, Carrie proves she's earned her PhD (Plucky Heroine Degree) by uncovering a killer you only begin to suspect the second half of the book. The killer's motives are real, human and even understandable, but still despicable. The "red herrings" are truly imaginative, driven by multifaceted characters such as a nymphomaniac possible date-rape victim psychologist, a female assistant with a deadly case of hero worship, a closeted psychologist who happens to be Carrie's best friend, and WWF-lookalike Flo Zimmer, and not just empty "look how clever I am" misdirections. The multiple homicides are not serial-killer driven, but follow the adage, "Three people can keep a secret, if two of them are dead."

     The secret is truly juicy, but plays second fiddle to Carrie and her engaging, endearing personality, her devotion to her children, her sparkling commentary, and her marriage dilemma with sexy-but-flawed cop Ted Brodsky, who tries to protect her despite herself. Carrie's relationship with Ted reminds one of J.D. Robb's homicide cop Eve Dallas' marriage to wealthy man Roarke. This sharp, sassy, suspenseful, smart mystery is a definite page-turner that, thanks to the author's real-life profession, gives insight into alternative medicine.