MySQL: Problem optimizing multi-table row deletion ... errors out :(

hi gang I'm working on optimizing the SQL for my forum system, but have run into a problem trying to optimize the function for deleting a thread with accompanying stats data and posts from the database using 1 query. The current function, that works, looks like this: // delete all traces of a thread function delThread($threadID) { $result = mysql_query("DELETE FROM hf_threads WHERE threadID='$threadID'"); $result = mysql_query("DELETE FROM hf_thread_stats WHERE threadID='$threadID'"); $result = mysql_query("DELETE FROM hf_posts WHERE threadID='$threadID'"); } I went through the MySQL manual, to try and find a way to optimize this, and came up with this variant: // delete all traces of a thread function delThread($threadID) { $result = mysql_query("DELETE FROM hf_threads,hf_thread_stats,hf_posts WHERE threadID='$threadID'") or die('Unable to delete thread<br>'.mysql_error()); } only it doesn't work at all ... the error output says this: Unable to delete thread You have an error in your SQL syntax near 'hf_thread_stats,hf_posts WHERE threadID='85'' at line 1 (Obviously I attempted to delete the thread with ID 85 here) I'm dealing with MySQL 3.23.56-log and PHP 4.3.0 ... Any ideas for optimizing this will be greatly appreciated, esp since I'm not all that great with the more complex SQL syntax... TIA Rene -- Rene Brehmer aka Metalbunny If your life was a dream, would you wake up from a nightmare, dripping of sweat, hoping it was over? Or would you wake up happy and pleased, ready to take on the day with a smile? http://metalbunny.net/ References, tools, and other useful stuff... Check out the new Metalbunny forums at http://forums.metalbunny.net/