From Publishers Weekly
Suffused with disillusionment about our legal system, this mystery by a law professor about a law professor is more interesting in conceit than in execution. Loren Mensing is teaching at New York University School of Law when Kim Hale, who vanished after their brief affair in law school 23 years ago, calls and asks to meet: "people," she tells him, want to silence her. If she doesn't show up, he should ask Joyce Clark how her father, a federal judge, died. After Kim is abducted before his eyes, Loren doesn't disclose Kim's comments about Joyce to the inexplicably intense Det. Sgt. Ted Domjan. Meeting Joyce just before she is murdered, Loren learns she may have been involved with a vigilante group devoted to righting wrongs perpetrated by the courts. Enlisting the help of PI Val Tremaine, who is smitten with the self-satisfied prof, and culling information from legal contacts, Loren explores the mysteries behind Judge Clark's apparently straightforward murder and Kim's disappearance?all the while keeping an uneasy eye out for the unnerving Domjan, who appears when least expected. Nevins (Royal Bloodline) fuels his narrative with dismay at the power of judges and a system that may be most effective at protecting some criminals from punishment. In expressing frustration, he leaves a considerable number of his fictional puzzles unresolved. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Police ask New York City law instructor Loren Mensing to locate a woman he is already after. Loren's law school lover, she has called him in a panic after a silence of nearly 25 years, and she may hold crucial evidence about a vigilante network responsible for murders nationwide. With the help of current lover Val, a private detective, he solves the case. A serious tone, brooding tension, plenty of legal background. Recommended.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In an intriguing, fast-paced story, law professor Loren Mensing confronts an emotionally charged incident from his past. Years ago, he fell in love with fellow law student Kim Hale. The two planned to marry until Kim disappeared. Years later, he is a visiting professor at NYU when Kim telephones him out of the blue asking for help. Convinced someone wants to kill her, she begs Loren to meet her and hear her story. Shocked and exhilarated, Loren reaches the rendezvous only to find that Kim has disappeared again. Aided by his current lover, private eye Val Tremaine, Loren sets out to find the elusive Kim. His quest has him criss-crossing the country and forced to confront a dangerous organization whose mission is revenge on corrupt judges and an out-of-whack justice system. Nevins offers solid writing, a gripping plot, a likably flawed hero, and a stunning conclusion. Emily Melton

From Kirkus Reviews
Twenty-five years after Loren Mensing's law school love Kimberly Hale vanished from his life, she pops up again while he's a visiting prof at NYU Law School--but then, after a late- night phone call begging him to meet her, and a glimpse of her just before he's attacked at the Staten Island Ferry terminal, she's gone again. And Loren (Corrupt and Ensnare, 1978) is left only with Kim's lead to Joyce Clarke, whose father, Judge Howard Clarke, ordered the release of demented killer Jonathan Bloch and was killed three years ago by the mother of one of Bloch's victims. Seems that Joyce has organized a network of vigilante avengers she'd like Loren to join--except that she's killed herself moments after she makes her pitch, and Loren's left holding the bag again. Luckily, another ex-lover, p.i. Val Tremaine, is standing by to fly with him to St. Louis, share his bed, and help him bring down the conspirators, the free-lance killers, the counter-conspirators, and the miscellaneous loose cannons who lurk in hospital corridors, in subterranean caves, and at a climactic NYU reception for Justice Harry Blackmun. The plot--much of it inspired by Ellery Queen, G.K. Chesterton, and Sophocles--is eye-poppingly ingenious but uninspired and, except for the cave sequence, utterly without depth. Nevins, in his fifth novel, still writes like a law school prof on commission from the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Book Description
Here is the latest bone-chilling mystery from the two-time Edgar Award winner.

It is before dawn on a Sunday morning. Loren Mensing, visiting profession at New York University School of Law, is awakened by a phone call from a woman who had vanished from his life almost a quarter century ago. Now she is in danger for her life and begs for his help.

Loren joins ambiguous forces with an NYPD police officer and their journey leads to a brutal murder in Greenwich Village, to the waterfront of St. Louis, to a hospital for the criminally insane, and finally back to NYU and an honors ceremony with U.S. Supreme Court justice Harry Blackmun as guest speaker.

In the meantime, private eye, Val Tremain, risks disfigurement and death to save Loren, whom she has loved since 1978 (Nevin's Corrupt and Ensnare), even though she knows he may leave her for the woman who has obsessed him for more than twenty years.

As cerebral as any puzzle from detective fiction and as dark as any film noir, Into the Same River Twice is Nevin's most outstanding work to date.

About the Author
Francis M. Nevins, Jr., a professor of law at St. Louis University is the author of four previous mystery novels and the Edgar Award-winning Royal Bloodline and Cornell Woolrich: First You Dream, Then You Die. He lives in St. Louis with his wife. In addition, he has written a number of nonfiction books including a critical study of Ellery Queen for which he received a special award from the Mystery Writers of America.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

It is before dawn on a Sunday morning. Loren Mensing, visiting professor at New York University School of Law, is awakened by a phone call out of nowhere from a woman who, almost a quarter century ago, had vanished from his life without a trace. Now, she's discovered something that could easily kill her and begs for his help. Loren joins ambiguous forces with an NYPD cop, and their journey leads Loren to a brutal murder on the night-bound streets of Greenwich Village, to the waterfront of St. Louis, to a hospital for the criminally insane, and finally to an honors ceremony back at NYU with U.S. Supreme Court justice Harry Blackmun as guest speaker. Meanwhile, private eye Val Tremaine risks death and disfigurement to save Loren - the man she's loved ever since they met in Nevins's 1978 novel Corrupt and Ensnare - even though she knows that if she succeeds he may leave her for the woman who's obsessed him for more than twenty years.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Suffused with disillusionment about our legal system, this mystery by a law professor about a law professor is more interesting in conceit than in execution. Loren Mensing is teaching at New York University School of Law when Kim Hale, who vanished after their brief affair in law school 23 years ago, calls and asks to meet: "people," she tells him, want to silence her. If she doesn't show up, he should ask Joyce Clark how her father, a federal judge, died. After Kim is abducted before his eyes, Loren doesn't disclose Kim's comments about Joyce to the inexplicably intense Det. Sgt. Ted Domjan. Meeting Joyce just before she is murdered, Loren learns she may have been involved with a vigilante group devoted to righting wrongs perpetrated by the courts. Enlisting the help of PI Val Tremaine, who is smitten with the self-satisfied prof, and culling information from legal contacts, Loren explores the mysteries behind Judge Clark's apparently straightforward murder and Kim's disappearanceall the while keeping an uneasy eye out for the unnerving Domjan, who appears when least expected. Nevins (Royal Bloodline) fuels his narrative with dismay at the power of judges and a system that may be most effective at protecting some criminals from punishment. In expressing frustration, he leaves a considerable number of his fictional puzzles unresolved. (June)

Library Journal

Police ask New York City law instructor Loren Mensing to locate a woman he is already after. Loren's law school lover, she has called him in a panic after a silence of nearly 25 years, and she may hold crucial evidence about a vigilante network responsible for murders nationwide. With the help of current lover Val, a private detective, he solves the case. A serious tone, brooding tension, plenty of legal background. Recommended.

Kirkus Reviews

Twenty-five years after Loren Mensing's law school love Kimberly Hale vanished from his life, she pops up again while he's a visiting prof at NYU Law School—but then, after a late- night phone call begging him to meet her, and a glimpse of her just before he's attacked at the Staten Island Ferry terminal, she's gone again. And Loren (Corrupt and Ensnare, 1978) is left only with Kim's lead to Joyce Clarke, whose father, Judge Howard Clarke, ordered the release of demented killer Jonathan Bloch and was killed three years ago by the mother of one of Bloch's victims. Seems that Joyce has organized a network of vigilante avengers she'd like Loren to join—except that she's killed herself moments after she makes her pitch, and Loren's left holding the bag again. Luckily, another ex-lover, p.i. Val Tremaine, is standing by to fly with him to St. Louis, share his bed, and help him bring down the conspirators, the free-lance killers, the counter-conspirators, and the miscellaneous loose cannons who lurk in hospital corridors, in subterranean caves, and at a climactic NYU reception for Justice Harry Blackmun.

The plot—much of it inspired by Ellery Queen, G.K. Chesterton, and Sophocles—is eye-poppingly ingenious but uninspired and, except for the cave sequence, utterly without depth. Nevins, in his fifth novel, still writes like a law school prof on commission from the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce.