Video Vengeance

In one of his best books to date, veteran author Tripp ( The Cords of Vanity ) here assigns his London PI John Samson a puzzling case of masked identities. Samson's client is Frank Ruddick, an antiques dealer specializing in old weapons, who plans to marry Mary Coomber, widowed years before as the result of an auto accident. But Mary has come into an inheritance, and her supposedly dead husband, claiming amnesia, has reappeared with a shady video business for her to invest in. Ruddick wants Samson to find evidence that will alienate Mary from her newly surfaced husband, but in the process the likable private eye uncovers truths about his cagey client. Tripp takes a sobering look at the lives of quiet desperation led by all connected with the case, brightening the view by his lively, straightforward style. Even the incidental characters, such as the proprietress of a boarding house in Bath who adds extra possibilities to the bed and breakfast offered male guests, come to life. (Jan.)