DEATH EN VOYAGE

by Richard Grayson ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 19, 1986

Sixth in the author's series set in Paris of the belle Époque and featuring SuretÉ's unflappable, sharp-witted Inspector Gautier, this time investigating the murder of elderly Lady Dorothy Strathy in her hotel room. As the case gets under way, Gautier, distressed by the death of one-time, still-loved wife Suzanne, is inveigled into a duel with man-about-town Comte De Bouttin--an impulse which leads to suspension from his duties. In the meantime, against Gautier's wishes, Lady Dorothy's downtrodden companion, Mary Newbolt, is arrested for the murder--and Gautier unofficially explores other leads, mostly having to cio with the ""Flower Girl Affair,"" a 10-year-old scandal in which Lady Dorothy's deceased brother, the Earl of Tain, was peripherally involved. A long-hidden participant in that scandal has gone to bloody lengths to protect his secret. It all comes clear in a melodramatic, laboriously contrived Finale, which detracts from the taut, absorbing quest that precedes it. Not up to the standard of Crime Without Passion (1984) but still worth the reader's time.

Pub Date: May 19, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION