Gothic Pursuit

The mere rumor of the existence of an original Richard Norman Shaw office bookcase is enough to send Tim Simpson, the director of the Art Fund at White's Bank in London, on a tear. His first stop invariably leads him to a corpse. As does his second. So Simpson, who has been chastised by his friends throughout his adventures in this series for ""playing detective,'' instead of allowing the police to solve the crimes, does not pursue his bookcase further. Instead, he devotes himself to his banking duties, which at this point focus on the acquisition of a timber and import/export business. It is Simpson's longtime girlfriend, Sue Westerman, who prods him into action, as well as the leading questions posed by old college chum Nobby Roberts, chief inspector at Scotland Yard. Inevitably, Simpson's business (the timber acquisition) and his pleasure (the search for the bookcase) become thoroughly intertwined, leading readers to an interesting, if somewhat predictable, conclusion. Fans of the series (the most recent was Whistler in the Dark) won't be disappointed; there's lots of art and antiques lore, and the usual repartee Newcomers may find the pace slow, the oblique references to other Simpson mysteries annoying and may be somewhat mystified by the way solving the crime always takes a backseat to the search for elusive antiques. (September 24)