COLUMBO: THE GAME-SHOW KILLER

Lt. Columbo must have complained about having to solve all those high-profile historical crimes (Columbo: The Helter Skelter Murders, 1994, etc.): The homicide in his fourth outing is actually fictional rather than fictionalized. Grant Kellogg, frustrated at the pennies he takes home from defending celebrity criminals, plots with Vanna White look-alike Erika Bjîrling to kill Tim Wylie, the big star who secretly fathered the daughter she lost to a killer six years ago—planning to plant enough clues against her to give the case seven-figure publicity value the two of them can milk, but to fake an 11th-hour alibi for her at the same time. As the killers methodically concoct misleading evidence, rumpled Columbo follows, tirelessly dismantling the case piece by piece. Kind of a drag not only for Columbo, who spends most of his time wading through red herrings, but for all except his most devoted fans.