A PENNY FOR THE OLD GUY

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 Wire 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.