Goddess Affair

Observant, shrewd and fallible, New York PI Gwenn Ramadge makes a welcome return to track a jewel thief at work on a Caribbean cruise ship. Her task is overshadowed when Minerva Aldrich--one of the Aldriches of Goddess Designs, a famous dressmaker--is discovered in the pool, fully clothed and fatally submerged. Juno Chavez, Minerva's sister and traveling companion, suggests suicide: Minerva was dying of cancer. Gwenn suspects murder. When Lewis Aldrich, Minerva's father, arrives determined to know the truth and waving reward money, the captain offers Gwenn's services to prevent his cruise from becoming a ``murder weekend.'' As Gwenn digs up dirt on the Aldrich clan that's much more interesting than her floundering theft investigation, Lewis warns her off his family, and a midnight attacker delivers a warning at once more frightening and more ambiguous. As the book winds down, Gwenn neatly solves the murder while NYPD sergeant Ray Dixon, her significant other, bops in and takes care of the robbery in three pages. In the process of telling a fine tale, O'Donnell (The Raggedy Man, 1995) demonstrates how human weaknesses can result in behavior ranging from merely duplicitous to the genuinely criminal. (Jan.) FYI: O'Donnell also writes series featuring sleuths Norah Mulcahaney and Mici Anhalt.