British author Dickinson's compelling fourth Francis Powerscourt whodunit (after 2004's Death of an Old Master
) reinforces his standing as one of the better current historical mystery writers. Powerscourt's return to England in 1901, after a year-long intelligence mission in South Africa at the height of the Boer War, is soon followed by the demands of a new client, the imperious and offensively rude sister of the late chancellor of Compton Cathedral in the west of England. The churchman died of a heart condition, according to his doctor and butler, but his sister, who stood to reap a huge share of the vast fortune left behind under one of the three extant wills, is suspicious of their accounts and of the closed coffin. Powerscourt learns that the death may be connected with the disappearances of some members of the choir and to a gruesome murder of another church member. Relying on his usual band of friends and allies, he begins to piece together a stunning conspiracy that could threaten the primacy of the Church of England. Some readers may be disappointed that no deduction is involved in the apprehension of the killer, but the vivid turn-of-the-century setting and absorbing look at Anglican religious schisms more than compensate. Agent, Jane Conway-Gordon. (Jan. 11)
