BAD DREAMS

by Anthony Haden-Guest

Macmillan; 420 pages; $14.95

Rarely is a practicing journalist acquainted with all of the principals in a celebrated murder case, including the deceased. This unlikely coincidence fell into the lap of Author Anthony Haden-Guest in August 1978, when New York police arrested Howard ("Buddy") Jacobson, a successful horse trainer and all-purpose entrepreneur, for the murder of a man named Jack Tupper. The writer knew and had once interviewed Jacobson and his girlfriend and business partner, Melanie Cain, a fashion model. The victim had often been encountered, by Haden-Guest...