The Alvarez Journal (Crime, Penguin)

A first novel is as much an experience for the reader as for the writer. Most of them have an abundance of vitality, but few of them have the total professional care given to The Alvarez Journal. Just when the police mystery seems to have become the Number One cliche in mystery, Burns makes plain it doesn't have to be. By choosing no megalopolis but the big Western city of Denver, he has a new canvas to work on, with samenesses but differences from the usual New York, Chicago, L.A. triad. Moreover by eliminating heart-of-gold kinkiness and misplaced sentimentality, he has a puzzle as rare as a good story by a police reporter. This one should with certainty make the Best First lists.--Dorothy B. Hughes