RISKING ELIZABETH

RISKING ELIZABETH Walter McCloskey (Simon & Schuster, $22) Ghosts of dead relatives and old noir films haunt this deft first novel. There's nothing terribly original in the story of Harry Preston, a New Orleans lawyer and widowed dad who falls under the spell of a socialite with secrets -- nothing except the tone of wary emotional clarity. McCloskey has written a quiet thriller, which only sounds perverse until you realize how perceptive Harry is to nuances of bayou class and morality. In the process, the author sketches a picture of the French Quarter you could use as a map and shows the wordless love that can arise between a man and his 9-year-old son. B