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A night out in fashionable London takes an unexpected turn when an elegant couple is suddenly gunned down on the steps of a private gambling club. The assassin makes his escape and boards a plane bound for the Middle East, unaware that he's being followed by a young girl. On the surface she's merely a waif, one of London's many street urchins; but underneath her vulnerable appearance lies the cunning mind of an accomplished con artist, and while the police back in England struggle to identify the killer and his motives, she shadows the man first to Dubai, then to Nairobi, and finds herself in the poverty-stricken slums of that sprawling city. So streetwise is the girl that we do not fear for her safety, even when she is making her way through the jungle in search of an upscale camp for wealthy tourists. All the while, back in London, Chief Superintendent Richard Jury struggles to make headway in the shootings, the trail leading to a mysterious pub the existence of which is apparently unknown to all the cabbies in London.
So begins Martha Grimes' twenty-fourth entry in the series of engaging mystery tales featuring Detective Superintendent Richard Jury. Before it has ended Jury will be forced to call upon his friends Marshall Truebood and Melrose Plant (aka Lord Ardry), and a wide-ranging cast of dupes, villains, sleuths and secondary personae that includes such delightfully-eccentric characters as Etta Attaboy, Leonard Zane, Bushiri Banerjee, and Cornellius Zimberlee. The whole makes for a madcap, continent-hopping brain-teaser that will appeal to crime fiction fans in search of a fresh and entertaining read.
§ Jim Napier's reviews and interviews have appeared in several Canadian newspapers and on various crime fiction and literary websites, including his own award-winning site, Deadly Diversions. His own crime novel, LEGACY, was published in the Spring of 2017. He can be reached at jnapier@deadlydiversions.com
Reviewed by Jim Napier, February 2018
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