HUNTING THE WITCH

Shoved into the elevator shaft of an abandoned hotel, Jeffrey Chapel falls to his death—and plunges restaurateur/sleuth Jane Lawless (Faint Praise, 1995, etc.) into another fine mess. This time, though, it’s not just a murder case Jane has to solve, since her own complicated love life is in dire need of sorting out. For instance: Has she or has she not reached the end of the line with beautiful but enigmatic Dr. Julia Martinsen? Does she or does she not want to go to bed with that bombshell of a marketing director Patricia Kastner, who makes no secret of her own libidinous intentions? And are there connecting links between Jane’s home life and her homicide investigation (she’s been hired to investigate by the grieving widow)? Indeed there are connections, which become apparent when, to her considerable surprise, Jane discovers that ex-marine Jeffrey was gay (he “hadn’t set off her gay-dar”). That’s even more evident when she discovers the rather special make-up of Dr. Julia’s practice: almost exclusively gay men with AIDS who want to remain closeted. Someone, Jane intuits, is after Julia’s files—for use in blackmail, or perhaps to keep from being blackmailed. Doffing her restaurateur cap for her ratiocinating one, Jane isolates the key question. Did the murder happen because a beleaguered killer feared Jeffrey might be getting ready to “out” himself and an unwilling friend as well? Indeed it did. Kitchen-sink plotting, romance-novel writing, lame puzzle, limp effort.