MURDER IN WAITING

Urbane Englishman Augustus Maltravers (Dying of the Light, etc.) wryly confesses to his stunning companion, actress Tess Davy, that he once had the most devastating schoolboy crush on his next scheduled interviewee, Sixties-star Jenni Hilton, now tentatively stepping back into the limelight. Gus soon discovers, however, that Jenni is still loath to discuss the years-ago death of sleazy record-producer Barry Kershaw, which prompted her 20-year disappearance. Then a friend from those days, Caroline, is pushed into traffic. Does Caroline's ``accident'' relate to Barry's death? What does Jenni know? Not much, it turns out, as Gus and Tess chat up her Sixties crowd, as well as Caroline's long-separated husband and his soon-to-be bride. Meanwhile, Barry's embittered mom is stalking Jenni, who'll be saved in the nick—thanks to a p.i.'s pang of conscience. An obvious attempt at misdirection will fool no one, and the plot's sluggishness is only marginally helped by Gus and Tess's repartee. The weakest of the series, though Anglophiles will still go for it.