On the Edge

A baker's dozen of Lovesey's mysteries have secured his reputation. Never, however, has the author's wizardry been so effective as in this tale of the duped and the duper, set in post-war London. Rosie Bell and Antonia Ashton meet by chance, years after they had worked together in the Royal Air Force. Catching up on old times, the women confess that they are miserable as wives. Rosie, poor and disillusioned, regrets marriage to the once-dashing Wing Commander Barry. Antonia despises her husband Hector, although he is immensely rich and gives her everything she covets, there is no passion in the marriage. Obsessed by desire for her macho lover, Antonia uses demonic cunning to coax weak Rosie into a plot to kill their inconvenient mates. Told mostly in racy, ear-perfect dialogue that magnifies the impact of events, the story dodges from one unguessable outcome to the next before the person ``on the edge'' falls into an abyss. (Feb.)