THE GOLD SHIELD
By
The only woman detective on the Brooklyn Homicide/Sex Crime Squad, Detective Vickie Curran, inherits an especially ugly case: the psycho mutilation-murders of elderly women. And though swaggering fashion-plate Detective Stephen Sperling (who makes endless sexist remarks) is sure that mother-rapist Juan Goldavos is the culprit, Vickie is dubious. Meanwhile, however, other cases must be handled: the rape of widowed editor Nancy Lonigan (the rapist is caught by giant detective Koala Wiskowski but Nancy refuses to press charges); the extortion racket of teen sex-kitten Yvonne Herman, who gets her kicks by seducing married men and then blackmailing them with threats of rape charges. Plus: Vickie's affair with baseball star Mark Davis--who wants her to quit. But Vickie persists; and when she links all the old-lady killings to dog hairs in the victims' palms, there's a farfetched solution. Weak mystery, then--but the station-house details and the graphic homicide/sex investigations will appeal to those city-procedural buffs who find the Egan/Shannon variety far too tame.