cover image Witchline

Witchline

Noah Webster. Doubleday Books, $12.95 (178pp) ISBN 978-0-385-24610-1

Fish with poison spines, gold coins minted in 1778 and hasty calculations of windspeed and tidal stream data figure strongly in the absorbing plot of this mystery from the prolific, pseudonymous Webster ( A Flight From Paris ). Marine-insurance investigator Andrew Laird pays an undercover visit to the Channel Islands, home of Witchline Shipping, after cargo from their sunken vessel, Rosewitch , turns up in Spain with no signs of water damage. The mystery deepens when Laird discovers the body of a likeable recent acquaintance aboard the boat of Peter Frere, the one man who might know the truth about the Rosewitch . Danger threatens and numerous intrigues intersect as Larid searches for the missing Frere. Webster's sure touch with local color and nautical details heightens the reader's enjoyment of his agreeable tale. (Nov.)