BEFORE THE BALL WAS OVER

Ngaio Marsh could do it to perfection and so could Agatha Christie, but Alexandra Roudybush is no slouch either at creating the kind of woman you'd love to kill. Her scene is Washington, D.C., and her ladies are rival party givers, the hostesses with the mostest to lose through scandal. Each comes equipped with a most difficult husband. Mr. Ashburner is silly-senile and Mr. Tor is a sadist. It's gossipy in-fighting mixed with guess-who. Crime Club