Murder, London-South Africa

 Murder, London-South Africa (1966) by John Creasey

When an important South African diamond merchant by the name of Van der Lunn goes missing just after landing in London, Superintendent Roger "Handsome" West is tapped to lead the investigation. Working with Lieutenant Jameson, a South African officer attached to the country's consulate in London, They track Van der Lunn to a seedy little hotel where he is being held incommunicado. But those who are holding him attempt to sneak him out a window and the diamond magnate is critically injured--and will be unable to answer questions for quite some time...if at all.

Meanwhile, a hotshot reporter with an uncanny nose for news has also disappeared--after calling his editor from the airport to say that he'd just seen a man he thought was Van der Lunn get off a plane. Coincidentally, Nightingale (our intrepid reporter) is on the trail of a diamond smuggling ring. Was Van der Lunn involved? Or was he a victim of the ring? West wants to find out what Nightingale knew, but he'll have to find him first. The case takes West from the East end of London all the way to South Africa as he hunts for the ringleaders who have injured the diamond merchant and smuggled millions in diamonds.But the object of the smuggling game may be a bit unexpected....

In a previous review (Inspector West Kicks Off, book #8) I ended with: "I'm also wondering how often West is going to get hurt in this series and what his secret is for recuperation--he seems to be up and rarin' to go awfully quick for a man who had a large chunk of building fall on him..." Well, here we are in book #34, and West, now a Superintendent and in his fifties, is still at it. This book ends with him trying to save Faith Soames, niece of Nightingale's editor, from the bad guys and he winds up in hospital for (probably) the 34th time. I haven't read all 33 previous books, but if he sticks to brand then I'd say the odds are good that he was at least injured in every one of them. He's not a hardboiled hero, but he seems to take the beatings as if he were.

But that aside, is this a good mystery? That depends on what you're here for. If you're looking for old-fashioned clues, red herrings, and loads of suspects to sift through, then you may want to look elsewhere. But if you want a good police procedural with interesting lead characters and new supporting cast (the newspaper crew and the South African officials), then this may be the book for you. I knew that a certain person was part of the ring (though not the ringleader) as soon as they strolled onto the page (and, as already indicated, there aren't exactly hoards of possibilities). But finding out who the baddies are isn't exactly the point. Watching how "Handsome" and company are going to rescue Nightingale and round up the baddies is. ★★★★

First line: "Handsome in?"

Last line: "And Faith Soames said that all you seemed to talk about, when she met you here, was me."

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Deaths = one shot