Grave Man, A - Hardcover

David Roberts worked in publishing for over thirty years, most recently as a publishing director, before devoting his energies to writing full time. He is married and divides his time between London and Wiltshire. Visit www.lordedwardcorinth.co.uk to find out more about David and the series.

Roberts's convoluted 1930s historical lacks the amusing spark of earlier entries in the series (The More Deceived, etc.). Lord Edward Corinth, unofficial troubleshooter for the British Foreign Office, and Verity Browne, foreign correspondent for the New Gazette, are attending a memorial service at Westminster Abbey, when an eminent archeologist is stabbed to death. After the police fail to make a speedy arrest, the pair agree to investigate quietly on their own. Unfortunately, this is about the last thing they agree on. Mr. Churchill, "a fat, over-the-hill politician," according to Verity, asks Edward to look into a foundation funded by Sir Simon Castlewood, who may be a Nazi sympathizer underwriting projects related to "racial hygiene." Lady Castlewood is a school chum of Verity's, so Verity goes to their home at Swifts Hill, where even a second murder can't make the protagonists see eye-to-eye. As usual, Roberts does a fine job of elucidating the politics of the period, but the cooling of relations between Lord Edward and Verity puts a definite damper on the crime solving. (Jan.)
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