CITY OF MASKS: A Cree Black Thriller

Hecht's New Age ghost story introduces Cree Black, a psychologist of renown transformed years ago into a hyper-empathic ghostbuster by a spectral visit from her beloved husband. Lured from her upscale Seattle offices to a spirit-infested mansion in the heart of decadent New Orleans, she immediately identifies with the haunted socialite Lila Beauforte. This allows reader Fields to showcase her skills, as Cree's somewhat brusque, unaccented speech subtly shifts into a quavering southern drawl. The actress also uses an impressive variety of bayou accents to distinguish the other New Orleanians—from the good ol' boy gruffness of Lila's worried husband to the cultured, iron magnolia locutions of her aristocratic mother. The novel has its share of spooky suspense—courtesy of anthropomorphic furniture, disappearing snakes and a pig-faced man-ghost with rape on its mind—and is filled with enough scientific rationale to make these sinister shades seem surprisingly credible. But the source of the ghosts isn't difficult to discern, and the many repeat analyses of the case elements will lead restless listeners to agree with Cree's assistant Joyce Wu when she complains (in Fields's amusingly on-target Long Island accent), "The metaphysics he-ah are a complete no-brain-ah, and I'm sick 'a goin' over it and over it." Based on the Bloomsbury hardcover (Forecasts, Jan. 6). (Oct.)