COUSIN ONCE REMOVED

by Gerald Hammond ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 28, 1984

Scottish gunsmith Keith Calder (The Reward Game, Fair Game) is on his way home from a vacation in France, with wife Molly, when an odd series of threatening incidents begins. Their car is repeatedly broken into, with nothing taken. Then, back in Scotland, Keith is lured to a local game sanctuary, framed as a poacher, and near-fatally shot by a crossbow sniper! What's behind it all? Well, while slowly recovering from his crossbow-wound, Keith becomes sure that assorted ruthless people (including nasty local/national bigwig Sir Henry Bateman) are out to get their hands on some of the rare antique guns that Keith bought in France. Why? Because--as we learn in a long, talky windup: one of the guns is a priceless curio of early American history; and two of the others are connected to an ancient scandal in the Bateman-family past. Lively and intriguing about halfway through, then quite static and strained--but eased along, throughout, by Keith's earthy swagger and likable edge.

Pub Date: Dec. 28, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION