Ghost Walk

London antiquarian bookseller and devoted single mom Dido Hoare returns for her second go-round as a hard-nosed amateur sleuth (after Death's Autograph, 1997). Juggling the demands of her business, her six-month-old baby, Ben, and her elderly father, Barnabas, Dido needs no further complications in her life. But when occasional customer Tom Ashe falls ill right on her doorstep, Dido helps out. Ashe checks himself out of the hospital and disappears briefly, surfacing long enough to give Dido an old necklace to thank her for her assistance; then he is mysteriously murdered. Dido, finding that she has been named executor of Ashe's will, is drawn into the investigation of his death. Like Barnabas, Ashe had been involved in code-breaking activities during WWII, but unlike Dido's father, the murdered man continued to work for the government on special missions after the war. Special Branch is investigating Ashe's death, which Dido takes to mean that his services to the government have something to do with his murder. Helped by both Barnabas and her irrepressible assistant, Ernie, Dido solves the murder and, along the way, brings to light an ancient, priceless manuscript of gnostic gospels of great interest to the Egyptian government. Smart and tenacious, the narrating Dido is an entertaining guide to the world of antiquities--and to her own very modern adventures. (Dec.)