Murder Times Two: A Reuben Frost Mystery

Inconsistencies and contrivances weaken the fifth entry in Murphy's hitherto admirable series featuring cagey Reuben Frost, retired Manhattan lawyer. At a home of wealthy, bibulous Tobias Vandermeer and his second wife Robyn, Frost and friends among the social elite are participating in a discussion of Thackeray's Vanity Fair . Tobias, drunker than usual, is supposedly creating a fine needlepoint picture illustrating one of the seven deadly sins the novel satirizes when he drops dead--poisoned. Grasping the fact that the novel and the victim's craftwork both hold clues to the murder, Frost determines to investigate all the members of the literary group.A second murder and a still more urgent need compel the unofficial detective to clear innocent suspects, including himself and the vanished waiter who had served the Vandermeers' guests. Capping the accumulated improbabilities, the denouement leaves one hoping that the author will restore Reuben Frost's reputation in future adventures. (Mar.)