From Publishers Weekly
This seventh novel featuring Mitch Roberts is superior work indeed. Strong descriptions of London, Cambridge and Amsterdam in wintertime make a powerful contrast between the trappings of the Christmas season and the sorrow and violence Dold's sleuth encounters. Roberts, an American horse rancher, has traveled to England to spend the holidays with his best friend's widow, only to find her shattered by the drowning of her son Jono. When Roberts learns that the young man had no emotional problems and was an experienced swimmer, he suspects foul play; he is convinced of it after he witnesses the murder of Jono's best friend, a Dutch student named Wim, in Cambridge. Determined to discover a link between the deaths, Roberts visits Amsterdam, where he learns that Wim's father is linked to high-stakes international oil deals that may have some connection to the case. Many mystery writers have tried to portray tough male sleuths who are also sensitive, but Dold ( Disheveled City ) outdoes them all in his depiction of a man thoroughly empathizing with a woman's pain. A heart-stopping crisis brings the story to a close.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
The seventh adventure (first hardcover) for American detective Mitch Roberts, who accepts the unhappy task of discovering how young Jonathan, the son of an old love from his war days, happened to drown ``accidentally'' in the Cam. When Jonathan's roommate, young Dutchman Wim van Euwe, takes a header out a Harlow School window, Mitch flies to Amsterdam to interview his family and discovers a complicated scheme to drive a rift between a Dutch oil company and its host country, Indonesia--a scheme that would benefit the English. Back in England again, Mitch learns both boys were probably sedated with a paralytic toxin; that Jonathan's death was undoubtedly a case of mistaken identity; and that the Home Office seems to be involved in a coverup--and behind an order to deport Mitch. Carefully evading his deporters, Mitch confronts the political intriguer, though he cannot prevent a major embarrassment to the Home Office. Low-key, and a nice example of the small, bittersweet mystery- -with appealing glimpses of a younger, more innocent Roberts. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
