Cotswold Murders

British MP Spicer brings back British Special Service agent Lady Jane Hildreth ( Cotswold Manners ) in this mystery that moves from the quiet Cotswolds to frenetic Hong Kong. On the train to London from her weekend cottage in Chipping Campden, Lady Jane encounters a young woman who tells of her love for an imprisoned IRA terrorist, confesses to a murder and then flees. The unidentified woman is later found murdered, slashed by a knife. One of few clues associates her with the village of Little Bisset, whose vicar works with prisoners in Top Marsden, where the woman's IRA lover is held. The village's gentry, who react strangely to Lady Jane's questioning, have a common tie--to Hong Kong. A possible alliance between the IRA and criminal Hong Kong Triad gangs sends Lady Jane to the Far East, where she witnesses the brutal murder of a Buddhist monk who has information on a large arms cache. She also meets up with an old flame, now a top government official. Spicer paints a vivid picture of the apprehensive state of mind of Hong Kong residents facing the return of their city to the People's Republic of China, and of life on the opposite side of the world, in the peaceful Cotswolds. His ending would have been improved, however, if the denouement had not taken place mostly offstage. (Aug.)