By Reason of Insanity

Stories of demented serial killers and the dedicated police detectives who pursue them have become almost a sub-genre, to which Harvey, the pseudonymous author of three paperback novels, contributes niftily with his hardcover debut. Peter Barrows is a twisted marketing executive, a man who finds release from the failures and frustrations of his everyday life in the murder of beautiful young women. He then photographs their nude bodies in ``artistic'' poses and sends the results to a television anchorwoman, interpreting the display of these horrifying photos on the nightly news as acknowledgment of his undiscovered genius. Ben Tolliver is a tough cop driven by a violent incident from his youth to solve what have become known as the Greenwich Village murders. The two men are brought together by Margot Dennis, the model whom Tolliver loves and who is the ultimate object of the deadly obsession that motivates Barrow. The pounding pace more than compensates for some unlikely coincidences as this chilling and memorable thriller races to its climax. (May)