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The Case of the Kidnapped Angel (Masao Masuto mystery)

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This short, easy to read police procedural was written by Howard Fast under the pseudonym E.V. Cunningham. It is one in a series of mysteries featuring Sgt. Masao Masuto, a Japanese-American and a veteran detective on the Beverly Hills police force.

The story starts off with the report of a kidnapping. Angel Barton, the beautiful and mysterious wife of Hollywood megastar Mike Barton is being held hostage for a $1 million ransom, to be paid in cash by her seemingly distraught husband. But things are not as they appear and Masuto soon learns, from talking to those in the know, that Barton would have been far more likely to pay $1 million to get rid of his wife than to get her back.

Sgt. Masuto's investigative method owes a lot to his grounding in Zen Buddhism. That is to say he is consistently cool, unemotional and supremely analytical in his approach. Yet, at the same time he demonstrates a finely honed intuitiveness which appears to be equally valuable to him in the crime solving arena.

The Case of the Kidnapped Angel is not great literature. It is light entertainment. But as such it is very well written. Perfect for whiling away a few hours on a plane or train.