From Publishers Weekly
A murder in the present and a death at sea during World War II are brought together in this evocative and skillfully written British mystery. A middle-aged homosexual is found murdered with a lot of unaccounted-for cash, the source of which could possibly be blackmail. The only clues are the name of a town, Glinton, and a set of initials, E.P.D.T. Detective-Constable Pete Noyes, on the make with a chip on his shoulder, is detailed to find the person to whom the initials refer. His investigations lead to one of the oldest families in the area and its head, Edward Pierre Darcy Tourkville, who is trying desperately to keep his estate intact in the wake of Common Market agricultural policies. It turns out that the dead man and Tourkville had both served on the same ship in the Merchant Marine during WW II and had been two of the four survivors of the ship's sinking. At first Noyes tries to prove a case against Tourkville but gradually and grudgingly comes to admire him, particularly after seeing him through the eyes of Tourkville's wife, Charlotte, who begs Noyes help in clearing her husband. Flashbacks of a ghastly life at sea for a young cadet are interspersed with scenes of the modern investigation. Ashford ( A Question of Principle ) does a beautiful job of limning the gradual humanization of the tough, self-centered Noyes.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
As usual, veteran Ashford (A Question of Principle, etc.) offers something other than a conventional whodunit here: part murder-mystery, part psychological study (a decent man's long-festering, guilty secret), part police-portrait - adding up to a lean mixture that's intriguing and absorbing most of the way through, if finally a bit flat. Who strangled John Hards - 60-ish, shabby homosexual - and tossed his body out a window in an unsuccessful suicide-simulation? The only clues: a surprising stash of bank-notes in Harris' safe; and cryptic notations that lead to Edward Tourkville, an aristocratic gentleman-farmer. Is there a connection between the two men? Tourkville at first denies any - but Detective-Constable Pete Noyes learns that they both served aboard a WW II ship that sank: Tourkville (then a cadet-officer) and Harris (a galley-worker) were among the only four survivors, enduring a 34-day lifeboat ordeal. Soon there's mounting evidence that Tourkville - an apparent blackmail victim - is the killer. Meanwhile, in flashbacks, Tourkville guiltily recalls the nightmare-at-sea - which included a paranoid captain and starvation horrors. But Noyes, increasingly sympathetic to Tourkville's classy, worried wife, eventually takes the investigation in another direction entirely - despite his own proletarian bias against blue-blooded Tourkville. Too predictable in its ultimate revelations, perhaps, but crisp and engaging psychological-suspense nonetheless - shrewdly counterpointing Noyes' rocky marriage with the Tourkvilles' sturdy-yet-threatened 40-year relationship. (Kirkus Reviews)
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
