Head Case

The British author's fourth suspense story is a corker, written with the artlessness and economy that fans admired in Stalker (winner of first prize for a debut in the genre), Bad Company and Dupe. The series' heroine, Anna Lee, works for a private-detective firm; her new assignment is to find a missing teenager, Tina Hahn. But the police get to the girl before Anna does. In a catatonic state, Tina is picked up on a London street, and her parents ask Anna to take Tina to a mental hospital. Evidence that Tina has murdered an unidentified man shot in a hotel room demands an investigation that takes Anna into dangerous corners. On her list of people to question are Tina's professors, all of whom remark on the girl's brilliance and impeccable behavior. Clearly she has been leading a double life, and the facts uncovered by the unstoppable sleuth end the story with a double whammy. Cody's fresh, witty style should make her a bestseller. ( June)