PAST REGRET

Babson, whose many works run the gamut from splendid to abysmal (Guilty Party, etc. etc.), produces a winner in this tidily plotted story that begins with the disappearance of Connie Sawyer, an American girl spending her junior year at a London university. Easter break is over, but Connie, along with several others, has not returned to her classes—and back in the US, Connie's mother, Dee, hasn't had a letter in weeks. In the meantime, Acting Dean Steadfast—on transatlantic phone—is cold and unresponsive. So: Dee flies to London, leaving behind her indifferent, philandering husband Hal, settles into a hotel, and starts asking questions. She's soon joined by American widower Stan Thatchpole, whose daughter Alison has also gone missing. The dean is concerned with making no waves; the police are no help; but Dee and Stan do find allies—or are they enemies? Meanwhile, Connie, a victim of amnesia, is trying to put together a new life, wondering why incoherent, fleeting glimpses of the past are so terrifying. The murderous thoughts of her pursuer are also part of a narrative whose separate strands move steadily to a dramatic resolution. Crisp, spare, and absorbing to the last page.