Foreign Exchange

In this sparkling international escapade, Beinhart ( No One Rides for Free ) adds a brilliant new dimension to his wisecracking PI from Brooklyn, Tony Casella. Now running a laundromat in the Austrian ski resort of St. Anton, Tony is hiding from the IRS--who were tipped off by the political powers he outwitted in his last adventure. When an American girl and a Japanese mogul are killed in an avalanche, the girl's mother persuades Tony to investigate. Events snowball; Tony is threatened by CIA agents and coerced by a Japanese conglomerate to find a computer disk missing from the mogul's effects. Going underground might save Tony from these establishment bullies, but he refuses to abandon his lover and their newborn daughter. The hunt for the disk leads him on a wild trek through Austria and Eastern bloc countries, his would-be employers in close pursuit. This witty, near-perfect caper makes merry with European cuisines, customs, currencies and politics. (Sept.)