Lead Review
- Book: One of Our Ministers Is Missing
- Location: Crete, North London
- Author: Alan Johnson
This is a very nicely set out mystery, with different strands that dovetail in a satisfying way.
The novel opens with Brady, who isn’t what he seems. He is in fact a professional hitman and his wife doesn’t have a clue about what he does. How will he fit into the main story of Lord Bellingham, redoubtable peer of the realm and – as it transpires – sleaze bag, who seems to have gone missing on the island of Crete? Then there is Bellingham’s glamorous wife on the island, settled in their house in Agia Galini, together with their nanny, who has been entertaining a local young man when the the Lord and Lady are out for the evening.
In London, assistant Met Commissioner, Louise Mangan is tasked with going to Crete – an island she knows very well – to liaise with the local police and help with the search for this important man.
Lord B has been a keen hiker and could perhaps have fallen to his death in the White Mountains. A newspaper reporter is sent out to feed back on the investigations, but gets himself into deep water. And Lady B seems to have been having an extra marital affair. Where do the police officers Louise and Petros Diamontopolis even start with all these threads? Has a crime been committed or is there more to the story because In London an exposé of the lordship’s proclivities are about to be revealed, and thereby strengthen the notion that he might just have chosen to disappear….
The author pens a traditional crime mystery and has a fluid writing style that makes for a very engaging read, all with a good mix of intrigue, death and romance. The setting of Crete is colourfully conveyed and you could almost be sitting in the local taverna, drinking retsina with the locals.
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