THE ALIBI

According to her publisher, Brown (Unspeakable, 1998, etc. etc.) has had 37 titles on the New York Times bestseller lists in the past nine years, some of them reprints of her Texas! trilogy and other earlier works. With her latest weighing in at nearly 500 pages, she’s one speedy typist—and as styleless as a Latin dictionary, with meticulously clipped sentences compounded of industrial connectives. Charleston assistant district attorney Hammond Cross unaccountably finds himself at a county fair, where he meets a mysterious woman and saves her from hungry servicemen. She leads him on, then fades into the night. Meanwhile, Charleston’s biggest developer and satyr, Lute Petitjohn, is murdered in the Charles Towne Plaza. Lute was the ex—brother-in-law of top detective Rory Smilow, who is investigating the murder and whom sexy assistant county solicitor Steffi Mundell begs to help her land this super—high-profile case. All avenues at last lead to Dr. Alex Ladd, the very woman Hammond was dancing with while the murder occurred. But Hammond can—t reveal he’s her alibi without compromising his job as a legal- evidence—gatherer for the city. A story Brown’s fans will savor, however charmless its language. (Literary Guild main selection)