COLD BLUE MIDNIGHT

Six years after her son Peter Tappley was executed for stalking, raping, and killing three women, his imperious mother Evelyn is determined to punish the person she thinks responsible- -Peter's wife, Chicago photographer Jill Coffey, whose dedication to her career ``made'' Peter go berserk. She's hired a pair of hit men to frame Jill for the murder of her lecherous ex-partner, adman Eric Brooks. Now which of the four complications—(1) Marcy Browne, the p.i. Jill's got on the case; (2) a lovers' spat between the two hit men; (3) Cini Powell, Eric's latest conquest, who saw the killer at Eric's office; or (4) Peter's sister Doris, who's doped out Evelyn's nefarious plot—will save Jill from her fate? Prolific veteran Gorman (Hawk Moon, p. 563, etc.) has churned out a wonderfully pulpish, greased-lightning homage to Robert Bloch that you can start just before bedtime confident that you'll still finish in plenty of time for a good night's sleep.