The Other Devil's Name

It was with a sense of resignation that Andrew Basnett, retired botany professor, accompanied an old friend to her home in a Berkshire village because her sister had received a blackmail letter. The letter had obviously been put in the wrong envelope, but it seemed to indicate that a murder had been committed in Lindleham, where, strangely, several people were missing from their homes. Had the old man really gone to visit his son in Australia? Was the little boy who had run away still alive? Had the doctor's wife walked out on him, as he reported? What had happened to the businessman who failed to return from his mysterious work in the City and whom his wife believed to be working for MI5? Quietly Andrew investigates his friends' neighbours and discovers situations of deepening complexity. Not the least disconcerting is the dawning realization that his friends too have something to hide. Elizabeth Ferrars is a mistress of mystification and shrewd observation. Both talents are employed with her usual skill in this latest addition to her considerable oeuvre.