Spider Webs

It's sad to realize that this ingenious novel is a posthumous publication by the author whose prize mysteries transcend the genre. The murder trial of Cully Paul King, handsome black skipper of the yacht Bewitched, takes place in a California coastal town. Events prove King had strangled Madeline Pherson aboard the yacht, after hiring her as a cook. The prosecutor claims that the victim's jewel casewhich can't be found was King's motive for murder. The contents of the case mark one of the startling disclosures in the proceedings, most shedding merciless light on the people involved with the defendant. The judge, the opposing attorneys, the amorous court clerkeveryone has more at stake in the verdict than the defendant. All, for different reasons, want to control King's future. Only one realizes that ambition, making the final shocker in Millar's tautly constructed story. (September 24)