THE KILL FEE

In the fifth installment of Van Wormer's Sally Harrington series, attractive go-getter Sally narrates the latest adventures in her sensational life in a WASP-y, plucky first person. She's just gotten involved with Paul, a young policeman from a moneyed family who has moved all the way to Connecticut to be by her side while he attends law school; she's also conducting an intense flirtation with a married man. Meanwhile, she scores a million-dollar job as a national anchor at the New York TV station where she's executive producer, while her great-uncle Percy, who, at 84, is happily ensconced in a tony retirement community, has gotten his own mysterious property windfall. As Sally investigates her uncle's supposed new land outside Hillstone Falls, N.Y., she entangles herself in a dangerous organized crime land speculation scheme and attempted murder plot. As in previous adventures, such as The Last Lover , Sally becomes the prime suspect. The pace is fast and the writing efficient, moving from upper-crust gloss ("Alexandra is wearing a dark blue suit today, looking very very , if you know what I mean, complete with Tiffany pearl earrings") to gritty matter-of-fact ("I choke on the blood that is streaming down the back of my throat again and have to spit some more out") with ease. Although the book relies heavily on repackaged clichés of the American dream of wealth, prestige and fabulousness, Van Wormer supplies genuinely suspenseful moments, tasteful, deftly written love scenes and an ending that packs an emotional punch. (Nov.)