Words to Die For

A food poisoning case plunges ace publicist Raymond Locke into a steep dive in this gritty noir from Kostoff (Late Fall). The action takes place in 1986 in fictitious St. Carlton, Ind., where Locke’s wealthy client, Lamar Dittell, of the poultry empire Happy Farms, has a big problem. People have been sickened from eating at his new chain of restaurants. One little girl has fallen into a coma. The PR firm Public Domain, where Locke works, is expected to contain the damage, but rogue problems keep popping up, none less predictable than the crazed father of the coma victim. And at home Locke is constantly faced with his own worries over his autistic son, Anthony. Less a crime novel than a look inside a deliberately covert industry, this will appeal to those who like their noir to come not from murder and mystery but from nihilistic slices of life. Agent: Marian Young, Young Agency. (Apr.)