DIE FOR LOVE
by Elizabeth Peters
Like Orania Papazoglou's Sweet, Savage Death (p. 20), this mystery-comedy is set at a convention of paperback-romance writers—but veteran Peters gets far fewer laughs out of the genre's foibles than newcomer Papazoglou did. Middle-aged librarian Jacqueline Kirby (The Seventh Sinner, The Murders of Richard III), in need of a tax-deductible vacation, comes from Nebraska to N.Y.C. for the frilly, silly conference. Implausibly, one of the three top writers in attendance—"Valerie Vanderbilt"—turns out to be Jacqueline's old school-chum Jean, an academic afraid of losing tenure if her pseudonymous secret is bared. So: is it Jean who murders nosy journalist Dubretta Duberstein with cocktail-party poison? Or is it super-agent Hattie, who (along with business-manager Max) is over-protective of the other Valerie—beautiful top-seller Valerie Valentine? Or is it Valentine's crazily devout fan Laurie? Well, Laurie becomes victim #2. . . so sleuth Jacqueline sets up a trap for the remaining suspects on the night of the convention's final gala. The problem here isn't so much the droopy, belabored, surprise-less plot. Far more disappointing: the bland obviousness of Peters' satire; the stiff dialogue and slow pace; and the strained characterization—especially in the case of Jacqueline herself, who's an inconsistent and oddly unappealing heroine this time out. Enough mild humor and effortful giddiness to satisfy Peters' more undemanding fans, perhaps, but Papazoglou is funnier—and far more informative about the genre-romance biz.