Winter's Gold

Edgar Award-winner Heffernan's new Paul Devlin police procedural is a tough, glitzy thriller with a plot that, after a trite start, picks up speed until it's careening through Manhattan. Natasha Winter, ex-wife of publicity-hound tycoon Roland Winter, is found dead in the bathtub of her suite in his eponymous high-rise. Although Natasha's death appears at first sight to be suicide, her friend (and Devlin's lover) Adrianna believes that Roland abused Natasha while they were married and probably killed her. The secondary characters-assorted mafiosi, the Russian couple who assisted Natasha, her smarmy literary agent and Devlin's staff of cynical cops among them-are credibly portrayed, and the dialogue is on target. Gore and outre sex are described with relish but not belabored. Pithy technical details include virtual-reality reconstruction of the crime. (Jan.)