Death Duty

Kate Verdi is a junior ""death duty"" officer in the State Department's Citizen Emergency Center. Though gritty and smart, her blue-collar background puts her behind the curve in the class-conscious halls of Foggy Bottom. When the deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Patricia Van Slyke, dies in Beijing, presumably by accident (though from the prologue it's clear to readers that she was cruelly murdered), Verdi is assigned to determine the details of the death and to oversee the delivery of the remains to the family. Beginning with the arrival at Dulles Airport of cremated remains rather than a body, matters go awry for Verdi, threatening her career. Enter Verdi's old college chum, Lorna Demeritte, who urges Verdi to join a tight circle of well-born, ambitious and mutually supporting foreign service officers who will help her set her career back on track. When one of these officers receives Van Slyke's post, and another dies violently, Verdi is slowly drawn into a devious, dangerous and homicidal conspiracy. In his hardcover debut, Kimball (Red Days) writes intelligently and sometimes with power, but too many characters and a few too many diversions into Verdi's family life diffuse the suspense. Verdi makes a charming heroine, though, and the action scenes that fitfully propel the narrative are first-rate. (Dec.)