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FAINT PRAISE
Ellen Hart
Ballantine, Apr 1997, $5.99, 321 pp.
0-345-40493-9
Minneapolis TV personality Arno Heywood, dressed in drag, pretends he is going to rent office space to start up a business. However, when the Realtor leaves him alone for a minute, Arno jumps to his death. Restaurant owner and part time sleuth Jane Lawless is indifferent to Arno's suicide until a friend hires her to see who has been sneaking into her loft apartment, disturbing her things. Coincidentally, the building that contains six loft apartments was owned by Arno. Believing that it is an inside job, Jane goes undercover and rents an apartment so she can have easy access to all the tenants.

Moving into the Linton Building turns into a diversion for Jane as she comes to know that the tenants all have secrets to hide and anyone of them could have killed Arno. As more apartments are being searched with it ems taken, another murder occurs. Jane realizes that somebody has a skeleton in their closet and are willing to kill to keep their secret(s) hidden. Jane must identify the perpetrator and what that individual seeks before the building turns into a graveyard.

Ellen Hart, one of this reviewer's favorite authors, keeps her Jane Lawless series moving along at a pace faster than a speeding bullet. In FAINT PRAISE, the audience delights in expecting the unexpected, a quality that this author carries out with the skill of a diamond cutter. The characters are colorful, warm, and entertaining, infused with a sense of humor that helps lighten the tense moments.

The star of this novel is the building with its labyrinth of tunnels, gargantuan lofts, and retro rock cafe. It is a place that readers will want to visit. Another winner from a winning writer. Harriet Klausner

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