Death in a Distant Land

Following their Incident at Parga , retired Inland Revenue agent G.D.H. Pringle and his ample lady love, bartender Mavis Bignell, travel to Australia. Chartered to lead a group called the Friends of Nuclear Waste, Mavis and Pringle find themselves involved in two mysteries. The first is voluntary: Mavis agrees to look for a friend's grandson, missing Down Under for six months. The second is unwitting and surfaces when Mavis agrees to deliver two kilos of ``flour'' to an air steward's aunt in Sydney. After wild contretemps with police dogs at the airport, Pringle discovers the flour's true properties, dumps it in the Sydney Harbor and watches the sea gulls do serious damage to one another. As Mavis argues with the Friends of Nuclear Waste and inquires after the lost boy, Pringle tries to keep her safe from an assassin hired by international drug dealers. A smashing finale on Ayers Rock resolves all questions. Livingston's deftly drawn hero and heroine may be of a certain age, but their wit, mettle and randy inclinations make them enchanting company for readers of any years. An intelligent, crackling tale. (Mar.)