Bad Blood

Vicky Lucci, the heroine of Proulx's debut novel, is a small-sized, big-mouthed hospital risk manager with a hot temper and a weakness for designer shoes. When a series of botched transfusions threatens to close down her hospital and derail its merger with a health-care giant, she turns from pushing paper to active investigation. A sinister courier, a suspected wife-murderer, a drug-stealing blackmailer and a series of inexplicable press leaks put her job--and her life--at risk until the story's brisk resolution. At times, it's hard to keep Proulx's numerous subplots and minor characters straight; happily, however, she's created a narrator so fresh and finely drawn that readers will be glad to make the attempt. Vicky is both a bumbler and a survivor, a woman with a wisecrack for every occasion (""The handkerchief turns quite black, which makes me realize that I am not dead, but I am without mascara,"" she quips moments after being blinded by her own pepper spray) and an endearing willingness to admit her own flaws, from an addiction to smoking to a penchant for married men. Her sarcastic but surprisingly warmhearted zest carries the reader through patches of less-than-compelling plot, making for a funny, fast-paced read. (Oct.)