NIGHT'S BLACK AGENTS
David Armstrong
Published by HarperCollins
ISBN 0 00647968 511 0

Review by Jean Currie

Clifford Benyon, landlord of the Belle Vue Hotel, torn by jealousy, is confident all would be well and normal marital relations resumed if his wife's lover disappeared. He cannot bring himself to do the deed himself, but one of his customers, a loner who comes for a quiet drink whenever he is in the area, is a canal boatman and seems ideal for the job.

After much thought and planning, the boatman agrees to the deal, and it might have been an unsolved crime if a little girl on a picnic hadn't spotted something bright and shiny.

Benyon's wife is devastated by the loss of her lover, and instead of the hoped for result, his life turns into a nightmare.

The book is set in 1933, before the advances of forensic medicine and similar aids and the Inspector in charge of the case has to rely on his intuition, his reasoning and his interviewing skills - his wife has been known to complain that he practises his cross-questioning on her. He has none of the pressure from his superiors and the Press that someone like Frost has, and he is able to meditate in his vegetable patch and take his time to work out his next move.

This is David Armstrong's first novel and it was shortlisted for the 1993 John Creasey Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year. I found it a good page-turner despite, or perhaps because of the leisurely style and I look forward to reading his later books.