Invitation to Die

A third of the way into Cleverly’s undistinguished second mystery set in 1920s Cambridge, England (after 2018’s Fall of Angels), Det. Insp. John Redfyre is walking his dog when he stumbles across a body behind his home. The coroner determines that the dead man, who had a card in his pocket inviting him to “break bread with” a dining group calling themselves Amici Apicii, was throttled. The killer’s m.o. suggests a military connection to Redfyre, which, in turn, suggests to the reader a link to an earlier section of the book recounting the discovery of diamonds by a small group of British soldiers during the Boer War. The card from Amici Apicii also hearkens back to the book’s opening, in which a member of Cambridge University’s medieval history faculty seeks out a transient to invite to that group’s intimate gathering. The underwhelming plot is slow to unfold, and Redfyre is colorless compared with the author’s first series lead, Joe Sandilands. Cleverly has done much better in the past in concocting intriguing murder puzzles. Agent: Juliet Burton, Juliet Burton Literary (U.K.). (Aug.)