Dreamland

Shattered dreams and politics among mystery writers intertwine in this fourth appearance, after Deception Island , of portly septuagenarian Winston Sherman. A professor of literature and, as Henrietta Slocum, a detective novelist, Winston finds himself a murder suspect during the Edgar Awards banquet, to which he has come as a nominee. The victim is Imogen Vail, his chief competitor for the prestigious mystery writer's award and his ex- lover as well. Shortly before Vail was murdered, Winston's adopted son, actor David Cromwell, fled the scene of the murder of a man in Central Park to avoid becoming a suspect. Cromwell had received several anonymous phone calls warning of a mysterious impending death, and managed to trace them to the victim. While following him for several days before the murder, Cromwell had witnessed daily meetings between him and Vail. While Sherman, with the surreptitious aid of NYPD Lt. Abraham Lincoln, seeks the answer to both killings, another murder and attempts on Winston's life increase the urgency. Lorens's detective is a delight--intelligent, witty, sly and compassionate--and his asides on some thinly disguised genre writers and their products are a real hoot. (May)