Now He Thinks He's Dead

The breezy team of commercial artist H. J. Mavity and her ex-husband, professional ``voice'' Ben Spanner, follow their debut in Even the Butler Was Poor , with this slim, sometimes slow, tale of murder and blackmail. Shortly before his death in a suspicious hit-and-run accident, Lloyd Dobkin, editor-in-chief of a Connecticut company that publishes skin magazines and Regency romances, confides in H.J. that he is on to something that will make him very rich and gives her an envelope to hold for him. It contains a photograph of a young woman's buttocks adorned with a butterfly birthmark. Ben recognizes the mark and says the photo must be of Sue Ellen Timberlake, the child of a soap millionaire kidnapped some two decades previously and never found (a case Lloyd wrote about in his bestselling Great American Kidnappings ). Another murder keeps H.J. interested and in danger as Ben maintains efforts to keep her safe. The tale never rises above the level of light entertainment. (Aug.)