Insult to Injury — Bernard I. Raizner

Raizner contributed scripts to the onetime TV series MacMillan and Wife, and he is also a former New York City district attorney, the latter role presumably the background for this mystery. It is, unfortunately, implausible and poorly written, with a cast of flimsy characters headed by Mark Cantor, a Bronx prosecutor suddenly turned defendant. After a night of feverish sex with a pickup, Joanna Voorhees, Cantor is accused of murdering her for rejecting his later advances. During the trial, evidence seeks to prove that Cantor made threatening phone calls to the victim, and, despite his denials and expert legal counsel, his conviction seems inevitable. Raizner's attempt at a surprise ending falls flat primarily because neither Joanna nor the other players are given valid reasons for their behavior. Their lack of dimension militates against the author as does his English usage: ``he snuck,'' ``you done good,'' and sentences that no one says but, instead, ``snickers,'' ``teases,'' ``acquiesces'' and ``smiles.'' (February)