BAD GIRL BLUES

The pseudonymous Dancer's first novel pits former Gotham fashion photographer AndrÇ Derain, now taking stills for a Hollywood movie as he smells the roses in New Orleans, against whoever killed Albert Ferrier, the male prostitute knifed outside Andy's place (with Andy's address in his pocket) while Andy was inside disporting himself with fading model Candice Browley. A series of accidents on the movie shoot point to sabotage, but Andy soon realizes he's stuck in something much deeper, caught between two all-powerful men: Candy's oilman husband, Ben Browley, pulling who-knows-what strings back in Texas, and white supremacist Senator Henry Boone. At the same time, he's torn among his loyalties to five fascinating women: Boone's predatory PR agent Katie Kollwitz, fading Oscar-winning actress Paris Moran, ingenue Emily Shaw (an especially sweet interlude here), his matter-of-fact prostitute landlady Bleusette Lescaut, and of course Candy. Red Harvest in the Big Easy. Too much of a good thing, maybe- -Andy sure gets beaten up and seduced a lot—but a welcome debut, filled with people who will live much longer in your memory than they do in this book.