Denise Hamilton, Savage Garden

Denise Hamilton, Savage Garden - In Los Angeles, the opening day curtain call is in one hour for the play Our Lady of the Barrio by gangbanger Alfonso Reventon; however the leading lady, explosive actress Catarina Velosi has not shown up at the playhouse. Since Alfonso is a childhood friend, Silvio Aguilar asks his girlfriend, Los Angeles Times reporter Eve Diamond, to accompany him to Catarina's apartment where they find her dead.

The police wonder if Alfonso, who worshipped Catarina and wrote his play for her, killed her in a passionate rage, or Silvio, whose entrance to the crime scene with a perfect witness, might have covered up evidence that he was previously there. Eve, accompanied by African-American reporter Felice Morgan, conducts inquiries into those who knew the volatile diva to determine who had the opportunity because several people besides the two prime suspects which include Alfonso's wife, the victim's drama teacher, and a Hollywood big shot, along with a seemingly cast of thousands had motives.

The latest Eve Diamond investigation is refreshed by Felice who brings a youthful (annoying to Eve) vigor to the case even as the veteran reporter wonders if her "prot g " is a racial quota Blair clone or the real thing; either way, she does not want a partner. The who-done-it cleverly makes Eve seems more real than her previous appearances because of her resentment at having a tag-along and how personalized this homicide is with the ties to her boyfriend. Though the racial quota vs. talent issue is never fully explored, fans of Southern California artsy mysteries will agree that Denise Hamilton has scored with this Ace of Diamonds, journalistic, investigative novel.

Harriet Klausner