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The third in the Carol Jordan - Tony Hill series continues to explore the depths to which humans will sink and the reasons behind the descent. Carol has applied for a job as Europol Liaison officer with the National Crime Squad. Her interview is very strange, because she is asked to try an undercover operation in England, and if she succeeds, will be offered another job. She is given several days to prepare,so she contacts Tony Hill, who has moved to a teaching job in Scotland after their last case together. She flies up to see him and the operation is extremely successful. The job she is offered is not the one she expects. Carol has an eerie resemblance to the recently deceased girl friend of a Pole who lives in Berlin and apparently owns a chain of video rental stores but actually is the mastermind behind both European drug importation and the export of illegal immigrants to England. Carol becomes Caroline and introduces herself to Tadeusz Radecki at the opera. After a murder in Holland and another in Germany, a policewoman from each country, communicating in a private chat room, compare notes and find that the murders bear striking similarities. Carol suggests that they invite Dr. Hill to come and try and help them. Tony is delighted to be able to be near Jordan during her perilous undercover operation, takes leave from his teaching position, and flies to Berlin. Except for the fact that the Petra Becker of the Berlin police is the liaison for both Carol and Tony, the 2 cases are separate. Early on we know that the murderer of the psychologists is a German river barge captain who travels easily between countries, but we watch as Hill figures out the characteristics and occupation of the murderer. And we also watch as Jordan has to resist the advances of the attractive crime lord, Radecki, while trying to accumulate enough evidence to put him away. Each of the books in the series is difficult to read because of the detailed savagery practiced by one person upon another, but the craft of the author in balancing the wickedness that one man can perpetrate against another with the dedication of those trying to maintain civilization, is exquisite. This is a tough book to read, but well worth the nightmares. Available in the UK from Crime in Store, London. (CrimeBks@aol.com) Note from the author: The US publication details are: Minotaur, September 2002. You might be interested to know that the preceding books in the series, The Mermaids Singing and The Wire in the Blood, will be published by Minotaur in mass market in June and July respectively.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, February 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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