Blues in the night - 1

Sunday, July 13. 1:46 A.M. Near Lookout Mountain and Laurel Canyon. An unidentified woman in her twenties, wearing a nightgown, was the victim of a hit-and-run accident that left her unconscious and seriously injured.

There were no witnesses.So reads the report on the accident off Mulholland Drive in Molly Blumes Crime Sheet column for a weekly Los Angeles tabloid.

Just another small L.A. tragedy, soon forgotten.But the image of the young woman in her nightgown stumbling along a dark, winding road is one Molly, a freelance true-crime writer, cannot shake.

In fact, it draws her to a bedside in intensive care, where the victim whispers to her three names: Robbie, Max, and Nina.

Its not a smoking gun, but is sufficient to reinforce Mollys gut instinct that there are sinister circumstances behind the assault on Lenore Saunders.With fearless conviction, Molly asks questions that nobodyincluding Lenores mom, her ex-husband, her shrink, or even Mollys L.A.P.D. buddy, Detective Connorswants to answer. Nevertheless, the astute Molly discovers Lenore lived a fractured life, so different from Mollys own secure and loving Orthodox Jewish background. And as a chilling picture of the unfortunate woman begins to take shape, the menace of murders past and present stirs and quickens.In her first Molly Blume novel, award-winning novelist Rochelle Krich tells a story in the tradition of the great L.A. mysteries of the pastand introduces an investigator who is pure gold.

Twentysomething divorcee Molly Blume, with her deep faith, short skirts, and nose for the truth, is a heroine to cherish.From the Hardcover edition.