Walking After Midnight

An award-winning New York City newsman, Nusser chooses an alter ego, freelance reporter Max Darenow, to narrate his first mystery. When his lover, photographer Denise Overton, is murdered, Max suspects her work on a book about Latino transvestites had taken her into a drug war. He and Denise's friend, a female impersonator named Dixie Cupps, search Manhattan's subterranean night life for a jet-set drag queen named Esmeralda, whose twin brother, Jaime Santiago, was killed at the same time as Denise. The journey from bo ite to bo ite takes Max to the lush Park Avenue apartment of Edith and Edgar Wately, of a flourishing banking family. Their strange relations with Jaime and each other are significant, as are Max's fearful encounters with rival gangsters and ``after-midnight'' types including political conspirators. The narrative fairly zings with terrific tension, making this an auspicious debut. (June)