DIAMOND HEAD

Paperback heroine Abigail Danforth, the world's first female consulting detective, travels to Hawaii, circa 1906, for her hardcover debut. Her teas, changes of clothing, and elevated small talk (""Do not dare quote Tennyson!...I have endured quite enough Emerson from Mr. Tarkington"") are interrupted by no fewer than three wide-eyed mysteries--the death of an illegitimate niece of Queen Liliukalani's (for which Miss Danforth's love-smitten major-domo is held); the poisoning (or is it leprosy?) of sugar-king Abner Tarkington's son Frank; and the search for Abner's long-banished first son Luke. With corset and parasol, Miss Danforth even takes time out to dispatch a would-be assassin. When a male companion pulls her from a doomed carriage, Miss Danforth does ""not recoil from his scandalous breach of conduct."" Readers who aren't die-hard fans of Carole Nelson Douglas's more accomplished stories about Irene Adler, though, will probably do their own recoiling.