Dying Well — Joyce Christmas

A CRIME DE LA CREME

Everybody who is anybody is bending an elbow at Dr. Dale Reeve's fiftieth-birthday bash. But Lady Margaret Priam is uneasy--the glittering crowd includes not only Dale's wife but also his mistress; not just his spoiled children but his wife's lover as well. Not to mention her beautiful new secretary, the instigator of this glamorous affair, a wild Texas filly with a penchant for kicking up trouble all over Manhattan.

Lady Margaret's fears are quickly justified. For even before the birthday cake is cut, someone will take a shortcut to death, off the terrace and down-down-down to fulfill a killer's devious wish. . . .