Dead Fix

Comparison with Dick Francis's horse-world thrillers are inevitable but Geller's accent is decidedly American and, with the jockey-narrator-hero's lover a female jockey, very up-to-date. When Tricia Martin's horse collapses in a race, Ken Eagle saves her from serious injury. With Tricia safe in the hospital Ken publicly threatens Marcano, the horse's nasty trainer, for doping his mounts. Then Marcano is murdered and the police discover Ken's watch at the scene and a bloodstained shirt in Ken's closet. The frame-up doesn't work but sets Ken to sleuthing about the murder and Marcano's method of ``juicing'' his horses. Geller isn't quite up to Francis's mastery, but the story moves quickly and the racing color is terrific. Geller wrote the baseball mysteries Heroes Also Die and Major League Murder. (Dec.)