The fifthe Danzig and Hare Murder Mystery
Castletown writer Stephen Lincoln is murdered in the front drive of his country cottage on Hallowe’en. Was he simply the victim of a group of trick-or-treaters who turned nasty? The police don’t think so, but after failing to make progress with their enquiries, are reluctantly obliged to ask chess-playing sleuth Jim Danzig for his unofficial assistance.
At the time of his death Lincoln was working on the biography of a local man who won the VC in North Africa in 1942. Has this anything to do with the murder? And was he such a hero after all? Who is the mysterious Major Marco, namesake of the detective in The Manchurian Candidate, who likewise seems to be pursuing enquiry into the matter? What is the connection with successful local prize fighter ‘Chopper’ Canfield? And with a local purveyor of pornographic videos?
As usual Danzig places his faith in old-fashioned (if occasionally legally suspect) methods to solve the case, ably assisted by his partner Judith Hare, who unlike him keeps in touch with the twenty-first century and its methods.
Another murder follows, but yet again Danzig and Hare succeed in their quest for the truth, and bring a dangerous criminal to justice.