Born to the Purple: A Delia Ross-Merlani Mystery

When a titled aristocrat starts acting like Nancy Drew, what do you get? In this case, a mystery long on romance and short on suspense, cluttered with designer names and snatches of poetry, but made memorable by offbeat scenes (like the one featuring an upscale drug dealer who caters to ballet dancers) and a cross-cultural love story involving a Jewish medical examiner and the novel's heroine: continent-hopping dilettante Lady Delia Giulietta Ross-Merlani. Delia flies to Manhattan to be at the bedside of her comatose friend Magda Maitland. When Magda dies, Delia rejects the official verdict of natural causes and devotes herself to identifying the true cause of Magda's death and finding her killer. She toys with ME Daniel Elliot, who becomes infuriated by her patrician airs and questioning of his autopsy report. ``I don't give a f--- about your friend and her drug-toting habits,'' he snaps over lunch--with Delia buying. Eventually, the improbable first novel worries less about whodunit and concentrates more on how an upper-crust lady discovers love with a down-to-earth Dr. Right. ( Aug. )