A Conflict of Interests

The British author's seventh mystery reprises the theme from his earlier successes ( A Question of Principle ; The Honourable Detective ): moral values vs. the public welfare. Administrator of a government department to protect police informants, Pat Bowles refuses to tell detective Mike King the new name and location of ``Sanderson,'' a defector from a group of animal-rights advocates. According to King's sources, the members are actually terrorists, but he can't persuade Bowles of the urgent need to contact Sanderson to help locate them. Bowles remains intransigent but shaken by the fear that the detective is right. As a result, a state of psychological warfare exists between the two. The battle heats up as the suspected gang traps innocent Sanderson and makes serious trouble for him as well as his wife and small son. With remarkable skill, Ashford keeps the tension at a pitch, and also provokes thought on the influence of personal standards on public policy. (Aug.)