Hampton Heat

From Publishers Weekly The sequel to Weinman's Tailor's Dummy is every bit as mirth-provoking, hair-raising and sexy, the second adventure of a true original, Inspector Lenny Schwartz of New York City. During a summer in Long Island's swank Hamptons, the detective and his art-historian wife Karen find their lives are at riskand so is their marriage. Lenny investigates the murder of an expert on the rights of the area's Shinnecock Indians and becomes suspicious of a local cop who has arrested a retarded youth for the crime. Hints that a cabal has stolen the Indians' land bring Schwartz and Karen into the exotic company of Russian immigrants including artist Vladimir Soloff and lovely Natasha, who easily seduces Lenny although he suspects her motive. As the detective gets closer to solving the case, he and Karen narrowly survive a gift of poisoned mushrooms and other attacks right up to the grand finale, where the two fall into what seems an inescapable trap. Thanks to the author's stratospheric imagination, the denouement stands out as a most amazing and flamboyant but entirely credible example of deus ex machina. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.