cover image Kiss the Hibiscus Good Night

Kiss the Hibiscus Good Night

Carleton Bates Varney. Carol Publishing Corporation, $17.95 (210pp) ISBN 978-1-55972-122-6

This inept, incoherent mish-mash begins with the murder of an interior decorator's assistant on the St. Croix-like Caribbean isle of Jordrolia, and ends with the howling chaos too much alliteration of Hurricane Hugo. In his fiction debut Varney ( The Draper Touch ) ? CK ,title is ok; refers to well known decorator Dorothy Draper/sss an interior decorator to the rich and famous, concentrates on the glitzy aspects of life on the exotic island and fails to make the murder much of a puzzle; the story contains a villain but no detective, and the killer's identity is revealed by a minor character, almost as an afterthought. Varney seems more interested in describing sex and drug adventures and the decorating trade among the glamorous than in developing convincing action or characters. (May)