File Under--Deceased

Smart talk, savvy sleuthing and a lively pace propel this spirited first mystery. Yorkshire tax inspector Leah Hunter is 25, tough, and she works out. When a stranger collapses in her arms outside an art gallery, Leah asks another gallery visitor to call an ambulance, but he, ``a Chinaman in a grey suit,'' only smiles and walks away. John Thorne expires, thrusting his catalogue into Leah's hand. As Leah probes Thorne's tax files, her apartment is burgled, her car is set on fire and she is run over by a motorcyclist; Thorne's probation officer disappears and some paintings are stolen from the gallery. Clues in the catalogue, hidden identities and the Chinaman figure in the resolution to this fairly complicated caper. Sharp, but not biting, Leah Hunter is often laugh-out-loud funny, usually during verbal duels with Nicholls, the cop she fancies and with whom she eats the fish and chips that send her back to the Nautilus machines. A nicely balanced debut. (Sept.)