Love, Sex, and Murder

Cameron (Honey Dust) comes on like Jackie Collins on smart drugs in this glitzy slice of California sleaze. The murder of the title arrives first, when Nikki Easterly, six, finds her celebrated actress mother bound to the bedposts, dead. Only after Nikki grows up into a 25-year-old Hollywood lawyer does the sex--kinky or odd enough to include a man who barks while making love--kick in. Despite top billing, however, love is in short supply in the desperate world Cameron depicts. As she gets involved in a case that hinges on DNA evidence, Nikki turns up evidence that tears open the wound of her mother's murder. Now hunting both the real killer and the father she never knew, Nikki, who's terrified of intimacy, discovers the world of online sex. During her forays as the virtual vixen Rough Me Up, she comes under the spell of The Master, a sadomasochist who turns out to play a role in her twin quests. Cameron's storytelling is swift and sure, and her authoritative details of the ways and mores of the dream factories of both cyberspace and La La Land seem to carry the stamp of experience. Faye Resnick has blurbed this novel (""I liked her ending better than real life""); so have Victoria Principal (""exciting"") and Kim Novak (""murder.... sensuality.... I love them both""). Will readers who don't know that Cameron edits the Hollywood gossip sheet Beverly Hills 213 share the excitement? Yes, if they're looking for a power walk on the wild side. (Aug.)