cover image The Society Ball Murders

The Society Ball Murders

Jack Albin Anderson. Walker & Company, $18.95 (180pp) ISBN 978-0-8027-5766-1

Much of the self-consciously ``clever'' dialogue in Anderson's first novel is as tasteless and as banal as the society people who fill its pages. Overweight Patty Nottingham, the main character, is a Bay Area gossip columnist who works very hard at being funny and tirelessly attends bashes that unveil aquariums and honor debutantes. When three gaunt socialites are found stiff as a tuxedo shirtfront, the San Francisco police department reasons that Meenie, Binky and Buffy died from a surfeit of plastic surgery and excessive dieting. But the chatty reporter doesn't believe this explanation for a moment, and she boldly sets out to interview her own list of unsuspecting suspects. Before she uncovers the dastardly villain, another death has occurred and Patty herself has received two threatening notes. By book's end, she has dieted down to a size 8, found love in the arms of an oversexed piano player and brought down the San Francisco police department. Forced and flippant, this comic thriller is the first in a projected series. (Oct.)