The Palm Beach Story

Life in Palm Beach is no stroll on the sand as local society veteran Pulitzer (Twins) spins with an insider's authority her third juicy tale of the fables and foibles of the chronically (and sometimes thinly disguised) rich. Meg MacDermott's boss, publishing mogul Hank Shaw, declines to be photographed for Meg's latest assignment--a photo-essay about Palm Beach--for his own glossy mag GL, but he does clue her in on how things work in his hometown and offers her access to his wealthy, publicity-shy neighbors and friends. Though warned that ``in Palm Beach no one cares what people do, so long as they do it quietly,'' Meg slaves through charity balls, benefits and board meetings collecting candids of her less than candid quarry. As she does, she accidentally captures Shaw's neighbor Ashton Kendall--the Countess Monteverdi--coupling with an employee in her husband's speedboat. A little passive blackmail gives Meg entree to Ashton's circle, leading to romance with the countess's cousin, boozy hunk Spencer Kendall, and evasive jousts with the reptilian Count Monteverdi. Meanwhile, Shaw pines for the countess, the countess hates the count, the count loves anybody rich and the countess's brother, Merritt Kendall, pulls dangerous strings to infuse the family fortune with enough cash to maintain their opulent lifestyle. A chance meeting between Merritt and a Colombian drug lord gives Meg leverage to avenge a childhood grudge and to nod toward her aspirations as a journalist, with catastrophic results for the Kendall clan. Pulitzer illuminates the downside of privilege as she sharpens her talented pen on a morally impoverished enclave--and that's a brief sure to delight her fans. Doubleday Book Club alternate. (Dec.)