THE MANUSCRIPT MURDERS

Another tepid outing for antiquarian bookseller Matthew Coll (A Cracking of Spines), who now buys a 16th-century manuscript at auction--and flies to Amsterdam when the Dutch professor who unearthed the manuscript is killed. Coil's sleuthing (unconvincingly motivated) eventually involves him with ex-porno king Alexander Forbes, and with Forbes' mistress Charlotte Hesse, an arts reporter. The manuscript turns out to be a fake. And there'll be another murder--plus a suicide. Sluggish pace, confusing plot, dubious motives: a third-rate caper only occasionally redeemed by the pleasant book-world background.