South Street Confidential

New York Post editor Belsky's third novel (after Murder for Keeps ) features narrator Jenny McKay, 40-year-old reporter on Manhattan's lowest-ranking TV station. The prospect of losing even this despised job impels Jenny to add trivia to the news broadcast she anchors, a new celebrity segment featuring chit-chat, instead of the hard news she yearns to cover. Assigned to the non-event of heiress Katy Kerrigan's approaching wedding, the reporter meets only the bride's mother who, drunk and indiscreet, reveals that her daughter is missing. On the trail of what she believes will be a sensational story, Jenny at last lives dangerously. Hired thugs take her for a ride, gangster fashion, and more ordeals follow until Jenny finally achieves her highest ambitions, even the upper hand over her rivals in the glitter medium. Belsky hits his stride with this fast-paced, cynically witty, exciting mystery. (Sept.)