Roberts's convoluted 1930s historical lacks the amusing spark of earlier entries in the series (The More Deceived
, etc.). Lord Edward Corinth, unofficial troubleshooter for the British Foreign Office, and Verity Browne, foreign correspondent for the New Gazette
, are attending a memorial service at Westminster Abbey, when an eminent archeologist is stabbed to death. After the police fail to make a speedy arrest, the pair agree to investigate quietly on their own. Unfortunately, this is about the last thing they agree on. Mr. Churchill, "a fat, over-the-hill politician," according to Verity, asks Edward to look into a foundation funded by Sir Simon Castlewood, who may be a Nazi sympathizer underwriting projects related to "racial hygiene." Lady Castlewood is a school chum of Verity's, so Verity goes to their home at Swifts Hill, where even a second murder can't make the protagonists see eye-to-eye. As usual, Roberts does a fine job of elucidating the politics of the period, but the cooling of relations between Lord Edward and Verity puts a definite damper on the crime solving. (Jan.)
