The title is a teasing lie: Roger de la Burde, found shot in the head one morning in Virginia, February 1992, was not really a count. The art collector was simply prone to grand fibs. And Beverly Monroe, his demure lady friend, later recanted her ''recovered memory'' that she was present when he died. Still, the confession led to her much-contested murder conviction. This true-crime tale boasts other intriguing players -- de la Burde's pregnant mistress, warring kin, pompous lawyers, wily detectives -- but Taylor's frostily objective reporting keeps them distant. In the end, it's no Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but it'll keep you mulling over the mystery long after you've closed the book.
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