MAYDAY FROM MALAGA

by Michael Kirk ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 4, 1983

Another so-so job for Andrew Laird, onetime medical student and able seaman, now marine claims investigator for Clanmore Alliance. (Cf. Cargo Risk, etc.) Laird's new case: the Sea Robin, insured by Clanmore, and owned by industrialist Janos Cuvier, has gone aground on the Spanish coast, near Malaga. And Laird's friend/colleague Charlie Henderson, sent to investigate, has died in a fiery car accident--an incident which prompts troubling questions in Laird's mind as he arrives to take over. Furthermore, Laird is curious about Cuvier's presence on the scene. (Why has he arrived with a phalanx of henchmen? Why is he so eager to offload the cargo from the Sea Robin?) Unanswered questions abound, then. But it's only later, after diver Jingles Reilly--an old Laird acquaintance--apparently dies of food poisoning (some students camping nearby also become sick en masse), that the picture begins to clear: Laird, with help from an adventurous local priest, winds things up in a final frantic melÉe. Competent, mildly engaging mystery/adventure--hobbled by clumsy overplotting, helped by strong local color.

Pub Date: Nov. 4, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1983

Categories: FICTION