Framed by a string of murders at the English country estate of Lord Mountbatten, Roberts's seventh Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Brown murder mystery (after 2004's The More Deceived
) falls short of the high standard he set with his best work in the series. When the Nazis march into Vienna in the spring of 1938, Verity Browne, a foreign correspondent for the New Gazette
, is deported as a known British Communist. Also headed to England on a visa arranged by Verity through her friend Lord Edward is Georg Dreiser, a young Austrian Jew who claims to have valuable information for the British military. But Georg's asylum proves short-lived when he meets a violent death at Lord Mountbatten's estate, where only a week earlier, Lord Edward and his nephew found the body of an up-and-coming artist. At times the author strains to connect plot elements, but as usual, his thorough knowledge of the period adds luster to the story. (Dec.)
