Unholy Ground: A Matt Minogue Mystery

This complex follow-up to A Stone of the Heart again features Sgt. Matt Minogue of Dublin's Garda Murder Squad, here called upon to investigate the strangulation of 73-year-old Arthur Combs, an unprepossessing man who kept to himself. But Combs was actually a British agent, and had been barred from England for nearly 40 years as a security risk. Unbeknownst to Minogue, MI5 agent James Kenyon is poring over Combs's personnel files to make sure that Combs's death won't bring to light anything that will embarrass the government. When the man who had ``handled'' Combs is killed by the Irish National Liberation Army, the puzzle begins to come together, but it is up to Minogue to find the surprising linchpin in the case. Brady is juggling many elements--ornate motives; the efforts of Kenyon vs. those of Minogue--and his plotting is occasionally dense. Characterizations, however, are ripe and the conclusion is particularly clever. (Feb.)