Like Men Betrayed

Available in the U.S. for the first time, Mortimer's powerful novel won raves when it was published 35 years ago in England. Different from the author's better known work ( Rumpole of the Bailey , etc.), this story dramatizes the generation gap, although it takes place before the phrase was coined. Middle-aged solicitor Christopher Kennet, jolted out of his quiet routine by rumors about his estranged son, Kit, tries to trace the youth through shadowy parts of London; his search fails, but it leads Christopher to an affair that acts as a catalyst to tragedy. Kit is in the country, inveigling one of his father's clientsbibulous old Hester Hume-Monumentinto signing papers giving him access to her money. As Christopher suspects, the ``borrowing'' funds an illegal deal with a murderer. The reader is in thrall to Mortimer's perfectly individualized characters in a big cast of pseudo-intellectuals, crooks and status-seekers. Only Christopher, despite his flaws, arouses empathy. (Feb.)