FELIX IN THE UNDERWORLD

FELIX IN THE UNDERWORLD John Mortimer (Viking, $22.95) In this tweedily amusing mystery that spoofs the British publishing industry, Mortimer (of Rumpole fame) has smirky fun throwing middle-aged novelist Felix Morsom -- author of sensitive, hopelessly unsexy books about life in his English seaside village -- into a wellspring of mayhem. In short order, Felix is slapped with a paternity suit; becomes the prime suspect in a related murder; and, while in jail, grows addicted to soap operas. But American readers will be less astonished by the identity of Felix's tormentor than by the comparatively literary British culture -- in which a mid-list novelist's love child could make tabloid headlines. B