Danger!
Cross Currents: An Alix Nicholson Mystery by Sharon Gilligan is the second
in this series about a lesbian photographer and amateur detective. This one
finds our heroine in the majestic forests of Pacific Northwest where there are
dastardly doings on in the world of real estate and on a small college campus.

Danger!
Cross Currents is set in a small former fishing and logging community above
Fort Bragg in Northern California. Alix Nicholson has been invited, sight
unseen, to join the faculty of Pacific Arts College as their
“artist-in-residence” for the fall semester. As the novel opens, Dr. Roald
Huberman, dean of the Fine Arts Department and professor of watercolor, is
fuming over his confrontation at the faculty meeting with Dr. Meredith Coates,
a professor in the Business Department, over the direction the College should
take. Pacific Arts, it seems, is a college filled with internal tension. With
the demise of its founder, the college has fallen under the control of her
heir, Mark Sutton, who has new ideas and modern ways of doing things. The
introduction of Dr. Coates and the Business Department is one of his “new
ideas”. Still, small colleges being what they are…small, Huberman is not above
introducing Alix to Meredith so she can rent the cabin on Meredith’s property.
It does not take Alix long to realize that Meredith is not well liked, not only
on campus, but also not in town and not by her neighbors. Meredith is driven by
her desire and need for money. She is so driven that she is willing to sell out
the town’s historic waterfront, the scenic cliffs, and even, if she can, the
land on which the College sits. When Meredith is found murdered there is no end
to the list of suspects. Unfortunately, the prime suspect for the police is
Leah, Meredith’s sometimes lover and the woman who as a high school student was
responsible for destroying Alix’s high school teaching career. With the help,
of the women at the Spread, a feminist commune, Alix strives to discover who
and why Meredith finally met her “well-deserved” end.

The plot in this mystery is taut
with suspense and the characters are realistically drawn. The character of Alix
is stronger than in the previous novel. She is more self-reliant. Her portrayal
continues to be full of intense emotions. This is especial true as she
grappling with Leah, both in her former incarnation as high school girl playing
at sexuality and now as a modern self-assured and desirable lesbian. Meredith
also is not all bad. As her story is slowly revealed, her greed is put into
context and ultimately balanced off by stories of her tender caring for a
mother cat and her kitten. The women of the Spread, are mythical in proportion.
They are gentle and earthy. The elucidation of their philosophy and rituals was
for me the high point in the book. In contrast to the women of the Spread are
Pete Parisi and Veronica Battles. Pete is an old salt who is trying to preserve
the waterfront in opposition to Meredith’s plans to develop it. He is not
opposed to using harsh words and ways to get his point across. Veronica Battles
is a “tourist lesbian” or so Meredith calls her. She is married to a tough
urban union organizer, but in his absences has been threatening Meredith with
blackmail if she does not have sex with her.

The book has two drawbacks. First,
the author presupposes the reader has read Danger
in High Places. If the reader has not, the issue becomes a moot point since
much of the mystery of this earlier book is revealed during the character’s
musing about her past. Second, the major clue to the murderer slams the reader
in the face halfway through the book. It is just too obvious to miss. This was
a major let down for me. I will say on the behalf of the author, knowing who
killed Meredith is not to have the solution to the final mystery in the book. So
read on, dear reader, read on, the best is yet to…well, that’s for you to
discover.

Sharon Gilligan is the author of
two Alix Nicholson mysteries Danger in
High Places (1993) and Danger! Cross
Currents (1994). She has one previous novel, Faces of Love (1992). Gilligan is a member of Women of Mendocino
Bay (WOMB) and is working to produce a newsletter entitled, WOMB with a View. Gilligan currently
lives with her partner in Northern California, the setting for Danger! Cross Currents.

Danger!
Cross Currents by Sharon Gilligan, like its precursor, Danger in High Places, is better than the average entry into the
lesbian mystery genre. The characters and setting are very realistic. The
suspense holds steady throughout the book. 
I would recommend it.

© 2002 Su Terry

Su Terry: Education:
B.A. in History from Sacred Heart University, M.L.S. in Library Science from
Southern Connecticut State College, M.R.S. in Religious Studies/Pastoral
Counseling from Fairfield University, a M.Div. in Professional Ministry from
New Brunswick Theological Seminary, a Certificate in Spirituality/Spiritual
Direction from Sacred Heart University. She is a Licensed Minister of the
United Church of Christ and an Assistant Professor in Library Science at
Dowling College, Long Island, NY. Interests in Mental Health: She is interested
in the interplay between psychology, biology, and mysticism. Her current area of
research is in the impact of hormonal fluctuation in female Christian mystics.

Categories: Fiction