WHODUNIT: JACK BATTEN

Zero Avenue, By Dietrich Kalteis, ECW, 232 pages, $17.95

From the get go, this book will light up readers feeling nostalgic for Vancouver’s punk scene of the 1970s. Ordinary non-punk, crime-fiction readers, on the other hand, will have to hang on until page 55 to feel the book’s pull. It’s on that page when Frankie Del Rey, Zero Avenue’s central character, goes on her first drug-delivering run, raising the possibility that she may be in deep with the book’s collection of addled idiots, villains and murderers.

Frankie is the ace guitarist and vocalist in the hot punk trio Waves of Nausea. She’s got dreams of making a name in American clubs, but in Vancouver, Frankie finds herself hemmed in by guys who are out to score big in the local drug economy.

Will Frankie break free and get on with her career?

Heart of the City By Robert Rotenberg Simon & Schuster, 275 pages, $24.95

The coolest cop in Canadian crime fiction is no longer a cop. In Robert Rotenberg’s fifth book featuring Ari Greene, unforeseen events have compelled Ari to quit the Toronto homicide squad and take a labourer’s job on a condominium being erected Kensington Market. This puts Ari in a good detecting position when the developer is murdered on site in brutal fashion.

The suspects are legion. So are the sleuth figures and — big revelation — the smart 20-year-old woman Ari has just discovered he f athered.

The Appraisal By Anna Porter ECW, 300 pages, $19.95

Helena Marsh is an art expert who specializes in recovering lost paintings on behalf of their real owners. This takes talents well beyond a sharp eye for a brush stroke.

Helena flies into Budapest, where most of the novel takes place. She rubs up against nasty rivals at every turn, and a likable slob of a local PI named Attila is regularly on her tail. All of this is daring and mystifying fun, and includes along the way a tour through everything that’s fascinating about Budapest’s history.