Left Handed Policeman

From the author of The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart comes this fast, intricate, wryly humorous novel concerning a random killer loose in Beverly Hills. Told he's dying, meek Lawrence Ferguson satisfies his need to be somebody by shooting the famous and/or notorious, affluent members of the Hollywood hierarchy. Nick Rachmaninoff, the left-handed policeman, investigates the first murder, and commences an affair with the victim's wife. This complicates his life, since his remarried ex-wife, Susan, wants him back. The demented gunman idolizes Susan, whom he knows as the star of a TV series called Cassie and the Cop. While Nick tries desperately to solve the multiple murders, keep his job and avoid hurting both women, Ferguson kidnaps Susan. The fraught events culminate in a terrifying scene with the odds against Nick and Susan's survival. Westbrook's story is a dandy, even if it's very much like the crime movies that Nick and his fellow officers deplore. (March 28)