Rook-Shoot

Self-consciously cute and loaded with indecipherable Briticisms, this spy-comedy-mystery imported from England hasn't traveled well. Duffy's protagonists, Patrick Gillard and Ingrid Langley, who appeared previously in Death of a Raven and A Murder of Crows , are former MI5 intelligence agents now living quietly near Dartmoor, where blustering winds from Scotland now inspire them to dream of a second honeymoon in the Mediterranean. Their plans are aborted, however, when they receive an appeal for help from Patrick's brother Larry, and they're soon in Wales investigating a series of bizarre and malicious events, including the hit-and-run deaths of a boy and girl. Although Duffy tries to make us believe that Patrick and Ingrid are skilled, brilliant operatives, they fall all too easily into the clutches of thugs who run a survival school that trains international terrorists. We can guess why Patrick has been lugging around an antique naval cannon; it will surely go off before the book ends. It does, leaving the silly plot in ruins. (Dec.)