Traitors Gate

A plot to steal Britain’s crown jewels animates bestseller Archer’s flaccid sixth crime caper featuring Royal Protection Supt. William Warwick (after 2022’s Next in Line). It’s 1996, and Warwick’s longtime nemesis, master thief Miles Faulkner, has engineered an elaborate scheme to steal England’s crown and sword of state while they’re in transit between Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London. Meanwhile, Warwick’s wife, Beth, deals with a sticky case of art forgery in her new position with the prestigious Fitzmolean Museum, and Warwick’s right-hand man, Insp. Ross Hogan, defends himself in court after an ethical lapse with a juror in an earlier case. Unfortunately, Archer fails to make these plotlines gel: there’s too much time spent away from the main thread, relegating Warwick to a background player in his own story, and the dialogue-heavy action lacks punch. A satisfying ending rescues some of the cluttered proceedings, and Archer’s fans will no doubt enjoy the heist’s familiar rhythms, but this is unlikely to draw in new readers. Anglophiles have a bounty of better British crime fiction to choose from. (Sept.)