DORIS FEIN: MURDER IS NO JOKE

The glamorous setting, the chaste whirlwind romance, the determined feminist independence, and the plot itself, culminating in Doris' rash rush into a near-fatal encounter with the villain: All these elements are familiar from Doris Fein's five previous adventures--but, like her last (p. 494, J-104), this is a full-grown murder mystery, and Bethancourt continues to rev up the suspense and the grit. (Here, during her moment of truth with the killer, Doris bites off a piece of his ear.) Now a millionaire college student, Doris is out on the town (LA) with high school boyfriend Larry Small when she meets up-and-coming nightclub comic Steven Sachs. ""Swept off her feet,"" Doris is considering Steven's proposal--but why is he so callous toward the tacky-mannered but loyal manager whose body Doris finds in the trunk of Steven's car? There's another murder; Doris catches on and confronts Steve; and soon she finds herself aloft in his Cessna, drugged with sleeping pills and left to crash while he parachutes out. Steven's scheme is as farfetched as Doris' heroic landing, but that's all part of the excitement for her fans. Bethancourt has a good thing going and shows no sign of flagging.