A Government functionary with a foreign name has shot himself under dubious circumstances. Suspicious characters abound, things are hardly likely to be what they seem, and an investigation must clearly be undertaken. With the panache of General Dayan, Miss Murdoch has invaded and captured at one blow the territory ruled during the last lustrum by Len Deighton and John Le Carre. It is impossible to go into what happens in Miss Murdoch's plot without sounding like the summary of an opera libretto. There are 20 major characters, including a dog and a cat who are germane to the action.
Children are home for the holidays.
Adolescents suffer pangs of love. This is Murdochland. One expects complications, revelations, tricks and red herrings, invitations to guess at what is coming, echoes, jokes and clues. One gets them aplenty. I am simply using its conventions.