From Publishers Weekly
In their less than satisfying seventh outing, that odd British couple--buxom, scatty barmaid Mavis Pringle and grumbling retired tax inspector G.D.H. Pringle--are lured to Las Vegas by a gang that plans a $23 million heist, using Pringle as fall guy. Paying more attention to the intricacies of the scheme--scheduled during a charity telethon presided over by Frank Sinatra--than to developing her characters, Livingston fails to fully exploit the potential ironies of two decent English villagers confronting Las Vegas-style greed. We know from the start that each of the four principals in the plan hopes to double-cross his partners, and we suspect that the flinty Pringle will find some way to foil their designs. The caper is distinctly unfunny, beginning with four murders and a dog whose throat is cut. Inappropriate Briticisms ("caravan" for "trailer"; "I shall" spoken by an American gangster) jar as Livingston ( Mayhem in Parva ) comes up lemons in Vegas.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
Shy, retired tax inspector G.D.H. Pringle and his buxom, down- to-earth companion Mavis Bignell (Death in Close-up, etc.) can't believe their luck when film director Enrico Dulce offers them a trip to the American West in return for Pringle's accounting services--handling the finances for a small group of actors Dulce is importing from England for a movie. But Pringle's initial skepticism turns out to be well founded. Enrico Dulce is really Louis Carlson, member of a Mafia family headed by Ozal Halling, who has made plans for the heist of the century--roughly $20 million in cash from a mega charity-drive televised from a Las Vegas casino and headed by Frank Sinatra. The perfect plan starts to unravel almost at once, though, as Louis and other top henchmen plot their individual double-crosses. In the process, Pringle and Mavis accidentally come across the remote site of the payout and are left for dead. The body count mounts as, piece by carefully crafted piece, the master plan falls apart, but Pringle throws a final monkey wrench into the works, accomplishing his own charity and bringing himself gratefully back to England. Lighthearted, fast-moving, with some good-natured barbs at American mores and manners and an intricately embroidered plot convincing enough not to spoil the fun. --
Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.