ELOQUENT CORPSE, the sequel to Audrey Lavin's ELOQUENT BLOOD, is a murderously funny traditional murder mystery. Think Agatha Christie with a dash of Janet Evanovich. An amateur detective, Professor Mary Beth Goldberg attends an Ohio writers' conference where the other writers and her eccentric hosts jockey for position as if they were Turkish camel wrestlers. Everyone, including town characters, has an agenda at this delightfully evil gathering. Murder, slightly tinged with romance, is high on the list. And it isn't the only crime investigated by the town's off-beat professionals.