Oxford Proof by
Veronica Stallwood
hbk out September 02
Published by Headline
at £17.99
Another of Ms Stallwood's well-known Oxford stories concerning Kate Ivory, the
novelist who gets involved in murders as regularly as the milkman calls. Beautifully
written as always, the main interest for me in the book was the exposition of financial
scams which seem to be almost a fact of life today. The author must have done a lot of
research into the methods of the credit card and bank account fraudsters - hopefully not
because she has been a victim herself. Mingled with the story-line, is a very useful
account of how it's done and by inference, good tips on how to avoid having your life
savings cleaned out overnight. - watch what you throw in the bin!
The book starts with a girl being caught rifling the garbage bags in a block of London
flats, searching for old bank statements and gas bills. The guy who catches her turns out
to be in same business and recruits her on to his team. A passing chap turns out later to be
one of their tagets and - coincidence- they all end up in Oxford. This chap is Kate's new
publisher and then the first one becomes her mother's new boy-friend.
Things progress at the Oxford end and one of Kate's mother's restauranteur friends takes
on a waitress who is part of mother's boy-friend's 'skimmers' - folk who covertly swipe
credit card data when you're not looking in shops and cafes, then nip up to Bond Street
and run your card up to its limit.
The book is a good 'can't-put-it-downer', but like other Kate Ivory novels I've read,
depends too heavily on serial coincidences, so you need a fairly heavy shot of disbelief
suspension before you start reading - which doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
