A Good Night to Kill

In her latest romantic mystery, veteran O'Donnell ( The Other Side of the Door ) sets two murders in Manhattan on the night of a major snowstorm. In one case, a young woman, taunted by a ski-masked man on the stoop of her apartment building, shoots him and his companion. In the other, the lovely young wife of a Mafia leader is drowned in her penthouse swimming pool. Norah Mulcahaney, the head of the local homicide division, is put in charge of both cases; her investigations uncover connections between the killings, but she is distracted by the romantic attentions of a handsome TV news broadcaster. While Norah's superiors encourage her public-relations appearances, she is torn between the excitement of her new media-covered life and the responsibilities of her job. Opting finally for the latter, she relies on police procedure and instinct to reach unexpected conclusions in both cases. Smooth writing and expert plotting offer some relief from the two-dimensional, simplistically motivated characters. Mystery Guild selection. (Jan.)