Fatal Gift

A plucky Nashville steakhouse waitress poses as a clairvoyant in order to track down the killer of a beautiful local socialite in this suspense novel debut, which is nearly sabotaged by overwriting and a slow beginning. Kasey Riteman, 28, is mired in early alcoholism, waking up all too often in strange beds with strange men. After she thwarts the sexual advances of her boss with a good kick and a giant can of green beans, she flees to the countryside, only to get stranded with a flat tire after nightfall. Alone and lost, she witnesses the rape and murder of a beautiful young woman celebrated for her associations with music stars and community leaders. Having identified the killer by his vanity license plate, yet seeking to avoid involvement as an official witness, Kasey concocts a history of past episodes of clairvoyance. Claiming she saw the victim's murder in a dream, she enlists the aid of an ambitious local female TV news anchor to help find the missing woman's body. When it is discovered that the victim had been taping bedroom conversations with her politically powerful lovers, and that several of the tapes are missing, Kasey is suspected by both the cops and the killer of knowing much more than she has let on. Though bogged down in the first half by unnecessary exposition and internal musings, the plot and the writing pick up in time, moving more surely toward an action-packed, if less than fully satisfying, resolution that has sequel written all over it. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; Doubleday Book Club featured alternate; Japanese rights to Kodansha; film rights to Grand Productions. (Nov.)