Fatal Charm

In this last mystery by Morice, who died recently, a renowned theatrical family, the Deverells, celebrates the 80th birthday of its matriarch, actress Evadne Proctor, on a TV show specializing in celebrities' lives. An unexpected guest is daughter Eliza, a former actress now married to an anthropologist and living on a Pacific island. Always a source of tension in a bickering family, Eliza is soon found in her hotel room, dead from a mixture of painkillers and alcohol. Actress Tessa Crichton and her husband, chief inspector Robin Price, become involved, and while Evadne angles for a suicide verdict, Tessa finds that Eliza had a lot to live for. Soon other members of the Deverell clan excite Tessa's suspicions. While preserving her dry wit and keen observations, Morice unfortunately has not come up to her usual standards in this entry in the long-running Crichton series, with the characters coming off flat and unprepossessing. (Sept.)