Miss Melville Returns

Smith's Miss Melville Regrets introduced genteel Susan Melville, a secret killer of foreign intriguers. In this larky sequel, the endearing lady's paintings have been ""discovered,'' and she's established in Manhattan art circles where hype is the name of the game. Feeling her trigger finger itch, Susan privately looks for explanations of artist Rafael Hoffman's fatal drug overdose and the fire that guts the DeMarnay Gallery. Then Roland DeMarnay is murdered and rumors of heroin smuggling reach the investigator at the same time that Rafael's alluring widow, Lupe Montoya, arrives from Spain. Along with Baltasar, the European couturier who occupies the gallery's top floor, Lupe arouses Susan's suspicions. But she also keeps an eye on her pushy agent Jill; Hal Courtenay, head of the Museum of American Art; and everyone else she thinks may have benefited from the crimes. The novel's rib-tickling fun and scary twists end as Miss Melville serves justice in her peculiar fashion, with no regrets. (August 12)