Full Commission: A Liz Wareham Mystery

The second fast-paced mystery (after Headhunt ) featuring public relations agent Liz Wareham finds her in the upscale Manhattan real estate world. Liz's client, Rooney Property Co., is being harassed with dirty tricks that threaten their treasured exclusive listings. So far, one apartment owner's Scotch has been laced with ipecac, and another's face cream with lye, burning her. Margaret Rooney is convinced that the perpetrator is one of her agents and wants Liz to ferret out the culprit before the company is doomed. Concurrently, Liz becomes involved in developer Alfie Stover's attempt to rid his newly purchased rent-controlled apartment building of its elderly tenants. Consummate PR agent Liz dashes from crisis to crisis while pondering what information she should give her boyfriend, Homicide Lt. Ike O'Hanlon. When another Rooney client and a Stover enforcer die, Liz realizes that she must get to the bottom of both cases in order to keep her job. Readers will enjoy feisty Liz, although they may be irked with her needlessly abrasive treatment of likable Ike. (Feb.)