Diplomacy

In this mildly diverting mystery/adventurewhose very red herring will lead only the imperceptive from the true cluePrince Michel Polikowski, an expatriate Pole living in London, is startled to learn that his good friend, also born of Polish royalty, has killed himself after a secret fight with heroin addiction and has left his entire estate not to his widow but to the prince. Michela ragamuffin gentleman who fought in the gallant tradition of his defeated country during World War II and for the U.S. in Koreawants explanations. For help, he turns to his still-lecherous elderly uncle, Prince Paul, a loutish American army officer, and a Neapolitan mafiosi. He encounters a widespread Polish diaspora, a murderous gang of Italian street urchins and their fiendish mentor, a Vatican manuscript, and a line of investigation that abounds in twists and turns that will leave readers somewhat bemused. Donald's previous thriller was Boast. (September 2)