cover image Passion in the Peak: A Superintendent Kenworthy Novel

Passion in the Peak: A Superintendent Kenworthy Novel

John Buxton Hilton. St. Martin's Press, $11.95 (183pp) ISBN 978-0-312-59781-8

The quiet English village of Peak Low is in for more than its share of trouble when residents decide to stage a spectacular passion play. For one, the rock-music treatment of Christ's last days offends many of the townsfolk, as does the choice for the lead, Wayne Larner, a lecherous, faded rock star on the comeback trail. Cruel pranks directed at the succession of actresses who attempt the role of Mary Magdalene add to the production's travails. When Larner dies after a mysterious car accident, along with Ricarda Mommsen, his current inamorata, the local police are baffled. As if the odd assortment of suspectswho include Larner's exploitative manager and a group of disgruntled backersweren't enough, there is the startling discovery that Larner died from blows to the head after the accident. Enter the thoroughly professional Superintendent Kenworthy to unscramble the pieces of the puzzle in a satisfying and plausible solution. The story begins slowly, but unfolds steadily into an unexpectedly dramatic climax. November