Thomas Dunne, St. Martin's Minotaur, 2000/December 2001 (U.S.)

Police Superintendent Gil Mayo and his staff are almost overwhelmed by two serious crimes committed in one afternoon. The rental home of a visiting Polish professor has burned with obvious evidence of arson. While the professor's children are safe, the body of a man, strangled before the fire, is found. At almost the same time, the wife of the local Priest is attacked in her home--and the police find only amateurish evidence of a robbery. The cases are obviously unconnected--except that neither has any obvious solution or even suspect.

Author Marjorie Eccles (see reviews of other mysteries by Marjorie Eccles) writes a very British mystery. Mayo, along with his assistants, follow every lead while rarely missing an opportunity for tea--or even Scotch. Gradually they turn up evidence connecting the arson to a World War II romance, to the Polish Air Force (which escaped the Nazi and Russian invasion and flew to Britain), and to long-held English secrets.

After a brutally slow beginning, Eccles picks up the pace in the second half. Overall, A SUNSET TOUCH was an enjoyable read with plenty of English quirks and a complicated plot.

Two Stars

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