Murphy's debut, the first in a new series set in the 1920s, will intrigue Dorothy Parker fans, but those expecting more than a superficial look at Parker and the legendary Algonquin Round Table will be disappointed. Parker shows up early for lunch one day at Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel only to find Leland Mayflower, the drama critic for the Knickerbocker News, under her usual table, stabbed to death with a pen. The police take an interest in the members of "the Vicious Circle," as the group was sometimes known, along with a budding Southern author, William Faulkner, who's come to New York City to get Parker's verdict on his writing. By making nonstarters like Faulkner, Robert Benchley, and Alexander Woollcott suspects, Murphy doesn't present much of a puzzle for readers drawn in by the mystery. (Jan.)