The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 442

By Nancy Mills A smart, sensitive sleuth Laura Robinson, as Lifetime cable's sultry detective Veronica Clare, has Bogart's savvy and Bacall's 1 1 sass. She's sexy, but not si I jt: I Best known for her work in "Night Heat." Laura Robinson calls herself an actress, singer and entrepreneur. Her parlor game sold three million copies. FEMALE DETECTIVES are suddenly hot Nearly a century after Nancy Drew solved her first storybook crime, more sophisticated, sultry versions of the intrepid Nancy are appearing on screen. Kathleen Turner's interpretation of V.I.

Warshawski, a Chicago private eye created by novelist Sara Paretsky, just arrived in movie theaters. This fall, Crystal Bernard of Wings will solve crimes in an NBC movie as investigator Dol Bonner. And the Lifetime cable network, as part of a move to expand its original programming, has just started a one-hour mystery series in which a woman solves the crimes. Veronica Clare stars Laura Robinson as an enigmatic detective who lives in a hotel and works out of a jazz club. The stories are set in the present, but the style is film noir.

Think Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. The series is shown Tuesdays at 10 p.m., with the week's episode repeated at the same time on Saturday. "I like to call Veronica a cross between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall," Robinson says in a deep voice that could believably convey such lines as, "So you know how to whistle, Steve? Just put your lips together and blow." "Veronica's got Bogart's savvy being 10 steps ahead of the game and Bacall's sass. She gives snappy answers to stupid questions. She's savvy, sexy, sensitive and smart." So is Robinson, who beat out 500 others for the part Tall, blond and in her early 30s, the Canadian-born actress is best known for her work on the CBS series Night Heat.

She has also appeared on episodes of Cheers, Hardball and Friday the 13th: The Series. "I have a lot of similarities with Veronica Clare," Robinson says, "although she does have qualities that aren't close to me. She's focused and self-disciplined, neither of which I am. But I'm improving because of the busy schedule of the show. Veronica is more of a loner than I am.

I'm a social person, but because of this job, all I seem to do is work and sleep." "Physically, Laura is the character," series creator Jeffrey Bloom says. "She is big-shouldered and athletic, and she has a very interesting face. Sometimes it's beautiful, and sometimes it's tough. When she walked into the audition, we knew we had our Veronica. Laura has a tremendous sense of confidence about herself." Taking a break from filming a scene in the back yard of a Los Angeles mansion, Robinson says, "I feel like the part was written for me.

Veronica is a very strong, versatile character. I'm strong and sexy and not afraid of who I am. "I never get the bimbo parts, but I have played a lot of baddies," she allows. "I'm constantly asked to play evil women. Maybe it's because of my eyes and my voice.

I also play femmes fatales. In Switching Channels, I played the TV anchor hired to take over from Kathleen Turner. Extras used to come up to me on the set and ask me for her autograph. And when Arrow Shirts THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER TV WEEK. AUGUST 4, 1991 6.