Nice Weekend for a Murder

Mystery-writer and -writing lore pervade this new effort by the author of A Shroud for Aquarius. Crime writer Mallory is invited to a mystery weekend at Mohonk Mountain House in upstate New York. As in real-life Mohonk mystery weekends, crime writers and fans are ""suspects'' and detective teams. The ``victim'' is to be a nasty, powerful critic who is thoroughly disliked. He storms out in a snit during the first session, and later that night when Mallory looks out of the window in his room, he sees the critic apparently being murdered. There are no other witnesses and no corpse so Mallory wonders if the killing is a hoax or part of the mystery weekend program. When Mallory and his girlfriend Jill find the critic's body the next day atop the mountain, a blizzard prevents their contacting the police. Mallory begins his sleuthing that climaxes in a snowbound, classic confrontation with everyone in dinner clothes. Adepts will spot the solution just ahead of Mallory, the mystery-within-a-mystery is a snap, and Mallory's quips wear thin. (September 14)