Lizzie is new to the countryside herself having only recently moved with her husband, Mickey, to be closer to his aging parents. As Dido prepares herself and her young son, Ben, to leave her Oxford home, she receives a phone call from her father and business partner, Barnabas. He has just heard from his sister Diane, Lizzie’s mother, who is concerned that all is not well with Lizzie. Barnabas thinks that since Dido is about to visit Lizzie anyway she could report back to him and he could reassure Diane. Suddenly, the idyllic holiday may be a bit more stressful.

At first Lizzie proclaims the countryside a restful change from the hubbub of city life, but soon she confides in her childhood chum. Lizzie tells Dido what little she knows of what is promising to be a very strange family into which she has married. Her father-in-law, Lawrence, is gradually losing his mind, which is making increasing demands on her mother-in-law, Rose. Her sister-in-law, Helen, has recently moved back home following a bitter divorce, so while another pair of hands is helpful, Helen’s mental state is somewhat unstable.

Most disturbing to Lizzie is the recent news that her husband’s younger brother, Teddy, of whose existence Lizzie had been unaware, is to arrive shortly after having served an eight year prison term for murder. Lizzie is beginning to think that the whole family (with the possible exception of her husband) is mentally unstable, and she has just discovered that she is pregnant.

Lizzie needs Dido’s advice and help desperately. Should she terminate the pregnancy, and what is the story behind this long ago murder? Dido, despite her resolution to spend some quiet, quality time with her toddler son, is intrigued and her curiosity draws her toward this enigmatic family.

In her fifth adventure, Dido Hoare (after Death’s Autograph, Ghost Walk, Smoke Screen and Road Kill) spends little time at her vocation of buying and selling valuable old books. What makes her an interesting protagonist is her knowledge of the antiquarian book business and what distinguishes those tomes worth collecting from those that should, at best, provide fodder for a “jumble” sale. Unfortunately, that aspect of her life plays a minor role in this tale.

What takes center stage in this drama is the eight year old murder of a young woman. She was apparently shot and killed by Teddy Waring, who assumed the person bumbling around in the family library was a burglar. Dido manages to obtain copies of the newspaper accounts of the incident in a rather bizarre way. She is visiting the local library with her baby and stumbles into a room containing the newspaper archives. Implausibly, her toddler son plays quietly while she locates the relevant issues.

In fact, Ben is the child most mothers dream of having. He fusses when Dido needs an excuse to leave a room, yet he cooperates beautifully when Dido needs to give her attention to some pressing aspect of the case. He doesn’t complain when he is entertained by a virtual stranger, and quickly goes off to sleep in strange bedrooms with nary a whimper.

Inconsistencies abound which will annoy readers with a eye for details. When the eight year old corpse of a young woman is found, a determination is made that she was pregnant at the time of her death. No explanation is given as to how this was determined, and I am extremely curious since I would assume that after eight years with the body exposed to the elements, there would be no soft tissue remaining. Also, it is stated that the body was most likely naked. Again, after eight years of lying in a culvert, unburied and so available to animal scavengers and the elements, most fabric would be destroyed as well. Furthermore, when the corpse is discovered it is announced that this young woman had died at the same time as the one that Teddy shot. How was that determined? Usually coroners have a difficult time pinpointing the time of death when the victim is discovered relatively quickly, yet here the remains are skeletal and they say with certainty that death occurred eight years ago. The reader that appreciates this one will have a great capacity for willing suspension of disbelief.

Would that Ms. MacDonald let Dido tell her readers more about the rare book business, an area in which she seems quite knowledgeable, in her next outing. I like Ms. Hoare as a protagonist in her proper milieu, but when she ventures so far afield she makes many unwarranted assumptions, which destroys her credibility.

--Andy Plonka