Whisper, He Might Hear You

Appel ( The White Jaguar ) here adds another to the virtual subgenre of murder mysteries about sexually repressed serial killers, but he brings little that is new to the table. Heroine Kate Berman is a familiar figure: a police expert--with an almost psychic ability to get into the mind of a killer--she was nearly offed in an earlier case and only reluctantly dedicates herself to this new one. Almost immediately, her involvement becomes both personal and threatening. The killer, even more of a superman than most of his fictional brethren, is wealthy enough to devote all waking hours to his deadly avocation and a virtuoso of disguise who rubs shoulders with his pursuers. After becoming enraged by a newspaper story that reveals Berman's role, he murders the daughter of Berman's housekeeper as a mere act of disdain, and kidnaps Berman's niece, holding her captive (an action out of character, given his proclivity for killing) in a secret room he constructs almost overnight. Appel somewhat redeems his predictable plot with one good twist-- the villain's blood lust is aroused by the husky ``cigarette voice'' of each victim, reminding him of the aunt who shortcircuited his youthful psyche. (Jan.)