Hidden Depths by
Joyce Holms
hbk out December 04
Published by Allison Busby
at £18.99
Another of the popular Fizz and Buchanan stories, which revolve around
two odd legal characters in Edinburgh. The staid Tam Buchanan, a
solicitor - turned - barrister, suffers the friendship of zany Fizz
Fitzpatrick (almost a solicitor) through a series of adventures. This time,
Fizz's friend, artist Irene, vanishes from a large stately home across the
Forth, together with a Rembrant which she has been restoring, worth over
a million.
Her partner, estate manager Kerr, is desperate to find her, but as time
goes on, they all suspect that she has either done a bunk abroad with the
Rembrant - or is lying dead at the hands of its thieves.
The mansion is owned by an eccentric and impoverished laird, Sir
Douglas, who give Fizz every encouragement to find both Irene and his
under-insured picture, and most of the book is a search for both missing
items. It builds up to a girl-in-peril denoument, the day being saved by
Buchanan at the cost of a fractured thigh.
Written in a cheery, throw-away style, this is a light-hearted thriller
which is not to be taken too seriously and in which most of the characters
live happily ever after.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
Hidden Depths by
Joyce Holms
