DEATH OF A SHIPOWNER

Set in Norway: a faintly amateurish suspense novel with all the emphasis on business dealings. John Henriksen, finance director of Paul Johansen's troubled shipping line in Oslo, finds himself named temporary co-director with young Fredrik Johansen when Johansen Sr. is gunned down by an American M-16 automatic rifle. And the murder mystery is complicated by a second killing, that of an unsavory Greek captain who was helping the late Johansen in a tax-avoidance shipping scheme using the ship Rose in Singapore. So, to help the police, John agrees to go to Singapore, to talk to tlie new Greek captain, Pappas, and to reestablish whatever dirty deals the Rose was into. . . as bait for the killer: Co-director Fredrik comes along; they learn that the Rose has been carrying terrorists of all nations; then they're off to Tokyo for some re-negotiations with Japanese shipbuilders. But meanwhile John receives threats wherever he goes, he's nearly bombed and kidnapped twice-and then Fredrik is shot dead in Paris while the crew of the Rose is murdered. Only then does John find out that the baddies are disaffected, renegade CIA agents who want to use his line for moving drugs, arms, terrorists, and similar free enterprise. Just barely passable action-suspense, and probably worth the trouble only for those with special interest in international shipping deals.