Too Soon Dead

Nefarious doings among movers and shakers in Depression-era New York City animate a lively chase for a story-and a murderer-for newspaper nightclub columnist Alexander Brass. It all begins when a furtive tipster promises an explosive story and gives Brass an envelope filled with photographs of several powerful people caught in compromising sexual positions. Intrigued, Brass sends a newspaper stringer to follow the mystery man. When the stringer is murdered, Brass and his team resolve to find the killer. Brass's young assistant, Morgan DeWitt, tells the story in a smart, wide-eyed style that perfectly fits the time and place. The trail leads Brass, his gorgeous and indispensable secretary, Gloria Adams, and DeWitt to anti-Nazi German immigrants (it's 1935) and a stripper who doesn't know about her photographer brother's sleazy sideline. The team's press clout gets them close to a U.S. senator who was among the photo subjects. He has a lavish estate and a beautiful nymphomaniac daughter who charms DeWitt but may be after information. Walk-ons by Charles Lindbergh and W.C. Fields add spice to the already bright, funny dialogue. Kurland (A Plague of Spies, etc.) constructs a thoroughly engaging showcase for a likable bunch of characters. (Mar.)