Dying Cheek to Cheek

Dedicated to sportswriter Pete Axthelm, Shah's second gossip-riddled romp through the star-studded society of midcentury Los Angelesdb will titillate and delight even jaded readers. When James St. Clair, station KTLA's first newscaster, is found murdered in his home, gossip-gatherer Paris Chandler, introduced in As Crime Goes By and nowdb assistant to renowned columnist Etta Rice, tries to play it cool, especially since she was among the last to see St. Clair alive. Then she learns that he was having more than one affair and that she's a hot suspect. But Paris also knows that Jim had been probing a freeway scandal, putting himself in jeopardy with corrupt state and city officials. Hoping to prove that his investigative work, not his romantic entanglements, caused his death, Paris turns detective with the help of her sidekick gossip-mongerer Nick Goodwin, PI Tee Jones and reporter Walter Ainsley. Juicy tidbits about the era's stars mix with action and suspense in this breezy, well-crafted tale. (May)