Killing Kate

In Kramer's so-so fourth novel featuring spunky Minneapolis TV reporter Riley Spartz (after Silencing Sam), Riley helps cover the grisly murder of Kate Warner, the younger sister of a college roommate of Riley's. In a world where stations are forced to degrade long-term news projects into "instant" investigations, and smoothly chitchatting hottie (younger!) anchors usurp experienced (older!) newshounds like Riley, Riley struggles with fallout from a human-interest dog-abuse feature, Kate's secret career as a successful author of erotica, and Channel 3's obsession with Nielsen ratings. In addition, Riley juggles weekend trysts with her long-distance cop beau, Nick Garrett, and pursues a run-of-the-mill psychopath who's targeting her. Kramer, a veteran TV news producer, offers pungent insights into today's TV news and its self-serving minions who'll conveniently bend the truth to keep their jobs, but her tired old plot devices, Styrofoam characters, and predictable romantic angst ("Him for justice; me for news") dwindle into a m%C3%A9lange of unsatisfying news bytes. (July)