MIDNIGHT BABY

Photographer/documentary-filmmaker Maggie MacGowen (Telling Lies—not reviewed), divorced mother of teenaged daughter Casey, is caught up in the short life of 14-year-old Hillary Ramsdale, found murdered soon after Maggie met her—homeless, frightened, and known only as ``Pisces''—on the mean streets of Los Angeles. Maggie, on an L.A. assignment from her home base in San Francisco, attaches herself to the investigation headed by sometime lover LAPD detective Mike Flint. Together, the two track the bizarre background of the young victim through the yacht-and-country-club world of Randall and Elizabeth Ramsdale, whose lives are somehow entwined with those of restaurant owner George Metrano and his wife Leslie, who still mourns the disappearance of a baby daughter years before. Randall Ramsdale hasn't been seen for a while. When his body surfaces, it becomes apparent that danger lurks for everyone connected with the investigation. Impetus and suspense then begin to dissipate in a plethora of fussy plot complications and the graphic detail of Maggie and Mike's sex life. Smartly written, vividly populated, mostly engrossing entertainment that could have been even better with a touch of restraint.