Crazy for Loving

Lesbian, junk food-loving New York City PI Robin Miller delivers the goods in Maiman's ( I Left My Heart ) second entertaining mystery. Robin, who works for ex-cop Tony Serra, grabs for herself the case of David Ross. His wife, Marion, a woman with a distinctly Upper East Side air, says he is in trouble, and she wants to know what it is. Robin sneaks into the inner-city school where David teaches and hears him mention ``paying off a cruiser,'' but leaves before the good part: David is murdered in his classroom that same day. Tony decrees the case closed and assigns Robin to help Christine O'Donnell, who wants to find the man who romanced her at an Atlantic City trade show and left her a farewell note: ``Welcome to the world of AIDS.'' When Robin does some footwork in Atlantic City, a bartender identifies one of her sketches as depicting a regular customer, David Ross, who apparently led a colorful life. Robin does a good job of solving both cases and almost as good a job of leading the reader off the track; toss in an array of gay and straight characters, who keep things hopping in settings ranging from a posh hotel to a tenement building, and the result should earn Maiman some new fans. (Dec.)