A Bed of Scorpions

January 4, 2016
Art and money are the linchpins of Flanders’s enjoyable follow-up to 2015’s A Murder of Magpies. At lunch at a London restaurant with old friend Aidan Merriam, sardonic book editor Samantha “Sam” Clair learns that Frank Compton, Aidan’s partner in the gallery Merriam-Compton, has committed suicide and her boyfriend, Det. Insp. Jake Field, is investigating. Soon questions swirl around the nature of Compton’s death, the business affairs of the gallery, and the upcoming exhibition on the late artist Edward Stevenson, although Sam is preoccupied by her upcoming panel on subsidized efforts in publishing that will include reproductions of Stevenson’s work. Encounters with relatives and associates of Compton and Stevenson provide no further clarity to Sam, and an attempt to run her off the road has both Sam and Jake wondering about Sam’s potential threat to those involved in the case. The finer points of book design, the navigation of Sam and Jake’s relationship, and a tense climax featuring archival shelving units add texture to the narrative. Agent: George Lucas, Inkwell Management.

May 15, 2016

Samantha (Sam) Clair, a 40ish, single London book editor, is shocked when her old friend and former lover Aiden Merriam tells her that his business partner Frank has apparently committed suicide. Aiden wants Sam to figure out what actually happened, but she really shouldn't interfere, especially since her new boyfriend Inspector Jake Field is in charge of the investigation. Still, she knew Frank, and Sam is a natural-born snoop who just can't stop asking questions, even when there is a second death. Then a series of odd accidents start happening--to her. Hurray for a competently plotted mystery that features a cynical and sardonic-tongued wordsmith whose detached appraisals of the London art and publishing scenes are just plain fun. Susan Duerden voices Sam's gloriously snarky comments with wry elegance. VERDICT Recommended for all mystery readers except those who only like the darker subgenres. Particularly recommended for individuals who prefer intelligent (if caustic) heroines, logical plots, and 21st-century settings.--I. Pour-El, Des Moines Area Community Coll., Boone, IA

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