Murder Under the Palm

In her intriguing eighth appearance (after Murder Among the Angels), septuagenarian stage and screen icon Charlotte Graham visits Palm Beach, where she travels down memory lane and stumbles over a murder with roots in the past. Visiting her old friend, Connie Smith, New Yorker Charlotte is caught up in the town's social whirl, including an evening on the luxury liner Normandie at which the Art Deco jewelry designs of Paul Feder and Connie's daughter, Marianne Montgomery, are to be introduced. Having had a memorable pre-WWII shipboard fling with the Normandie's piano player, Eddie Norwood, Charlotte eagerly anticipates the evening, even more so after learning that Eddie is also on the guest list. But the grand reunion is interrupted when Paul's murdered body is found on the beach during the gala and Marianne becomes the chief suspect. When Connie asks her to clear Marianne, Charlotte enlists Eddie's help. Their investigation suggests that Paul's death may be tied to the long-past burning of the Normandie in New York harbor two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. To solve today's crime, Charlotte and Eddie must unravel the details of the ship's history and trace the paths of Nazi sympathizers in America. Charlotte, swept off her feet by Palm Beach and her old lover, is as acute and enchanting as ever in this intricate, deftly worked mystery. (Mar.)