Malice Domestic

Abbotsbourne is a sleepy English village thatnot surprisinglyturns out to be a lot less peaceful than it seems at first glance. But what readers may find disturbing is that Hardwick (author of novelized versions of Upstairs, Downstairs and The Duchess of Duke Street was not content to have her heroine, the clever and attractive Doran Fairweather, solve a conventional whodunit. This murder mystery includes elements of gothic horror, witchcraft and villainy motivated by an occult veneration of the power of evil. Even those who don't mind a strong dose of the supernatural in their mystery fiction are likely to be offended by Hardwick's gratuitous characterizations. Describing the despair of Eli Levison, a kindly but troubled Jewish physician, she writes: ""With just such an air might Spaniards of his race have waited for the heated irons and pincers of Torquemada's inquisitors.'' (November 17)