French Leave

August 15, 2009
Max Rydal and Tom Black (Dutch Courage, 2008, etc.) investigate the disappearance of a singularly unpopular soldier.

John Smith is a tough man to like. His sergeant, Eric Miller, considers him the worst excuse for a soldier in all the West Wiltshire Regiment. His mates in 3 Platoon say he's a sneak who tries to wheedle his way into their good graces with bribes. Even Dan Farley, his patient platoon commander, has little good to say to Rydal and Black, 26 Section, Special Investigation Branch, when Smith disappears after a particularly grueling exercise intended to train the West Wilts for an upcoming stint in Afghanistan. Someone with a West Midlands accent calls to say that Smith is dead, having got what was coming to him. But Rydal, Black and especially Farley withhold judgment. Farley even goes out to look for Smith in the stark German countryside and gets caught in a torrential downpour. The same downpour knocks over a tree on Max's car, leaving him to the mercies of Clare Goodey, the new medical officer. As Farley and Rydal ponder their relationships with women who may not be comfortable as army spouses, Tom tries to help his wife Nora tame their three contentious adolescents. The investigation stalls until Farley disappears too, prompting the SIB to consider whether the disappearances may be part of a scheme bigger and scarier than discontented soldiers going AWOL.

Domestic complications trump criminal complaints, which are weakened by an inconsistency you could drive a personnel carrier through.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

August 1, 2009
Darrells in-depth knowledge of military life, coupled with her ability to create solid plots and appealing characters, makes her Max Rydal series consistently entertaining. In his latest outing, military policeman Max faces a puzzler. During a military exercise to prepare new recruits for action in Afghanistan, a young soldier, John Smith, disappears. The consensus among his colleagues is that hes gone AWOL, but his commanding officer, whos fresh from officer training, isnt so sure; he fears something may have happened to Smith, who was universally disliked by those in his platoon. As Max and his colleagues investigate, they find a disturbing story behind Smiths desertion. As usual, Darrells story is as much about military routine and the personal lives of her main characters as it is about the actual case, but this winning combination of daily life and mystery makes for enjoyable reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)