RAVEN'S REVENGE

Raven's on the run again, this time from drug charges engineered by--who else?--ex-Scotland Yard commander George Drake, whom series readers will remember as a villain exposed by Raven. Now Drake is out of jail, blackmailing secretly corrupt Henry Hackett (of the Drugs Squad) into setting up the frame on Raven and houseboat/bedmate Kirstie. So Raven, helped by old friends Jerry Soo and Jacek Keglevic, goes after Drake--only to find him already murdered. . . by Hackett. And Raven will need help from Drake's alcoholic ex-wife/widow Mildred (still bitter over a long-ago affair with Hackett) to prove his own innocence. With interlacing variations on the revenge theme and neat character studies: one of the best Ravens yet--fast, deft, solid.