A COOL DAY FOR KILLING

Shahbaddin might sound like an Arabian Nights resort but in this cool, clear, Charles Russell thriller, Shahbaddin is a principality ruled these many years by a line of immigrant Scots, the Radens. After the assassination of her father, Sheila Raden finds herself with some hot crown jewels and a cold war between Shahbaddin's native Malay and immigrant Chinese. Whitehall wants the country in its Federation but the Communists have other plans and, as usual, it's a meticulously mitigated, but devious, situation which Charles unsnarls.