DOLLY AND THE NANNY BIRD

Don't be confused when the publisher tells you that this is the latest in the Dolly and the. . . series; in the US, Dunnett's previous adventures for spy/painter Johnson Johnson (and yacht Dolly) have been published under such titles as The Photogenic Soprano and Murder in Focus. This time Johnson, with adoring spy/nanny Joanna Emerson, is investigating the murder of an agent-pal—and the theft of a coded list of UK spies. So, in a wildly devious plot, Joanna is placed as nanny in the plush N.Y. household of the Booker-Readmans. But even plusher is the next-door Eisenkopp menage—which includes that mad Yugoslavian designer Hugo Panadek. And seemingly endless subplots criss-cross as the Beautiful People, nannies in tow, move from Easter at Cape Cod to yachting in Yugoslavia. The smashing climax: Joanna, after assorted near-misses, must sail Johnson's Dolly (and her kidnappers) out of a furious storm . . . only to be imprisoned in Hugo's castle near Dubrovnik. Nick-of-time rescues, frou-frou dialogue, an antic-frantic pace—but those with a taste for tart, ultra-rich froth will find this entirely yummy; and even less giddy sorts will fall for the sailing suspense and the mouth-watering Yugoslavian scenery.