THE CASE OF THE MISSING BRONTE

Another fast-moving adventure for aristocratic Supt. Perry Trethowan of the C.I.D. (Sheer Torture)--told in his usual wry, chatty style. The sleuthings begin when Perry and wife Jan meet, in a country pub, retired schoolmistress Edith Wing--who has found the manuscript of what might be an unknown Bronte novel amongst a pile of inherited old papers. Soon, of course, Ms. Wing is attacked (almost killed) in her cottage; and Perry starts tracking down the now-missing manuscript. Among those who've been showing rather too much interest in the ms.: rabbity English professor Timothy Scott-Windlesham; strange little Dr. Tetterfield, head of a research library; oily Rev. Amos Macklehouse, of the Tabernacle of the Risen Moses; and a menacing pair of hulking Scandinavians. Eventually, then, the chase leads to the seedy Victorian house of spinster-typist Selina Boothroyd. . . as big money and a VIP name surface among the motivations. A bit too light-weight to rank with prime Barnard--but light-handed and light-hearted entertainment to be sure, with that fine satiric edge on good display.