When Dido arrives at Phyllis’ flat she finds obvious signs that the place has been burglarized, but Phyllis appears to be missing. A quick search of the premises reveals that Phyllis has been locked in a closet with her cell phone. The burglars obviously meant her no harm, but wished to escape before help could be summoned. Questioning Phyllis, Dido learns that Phyllis’ husband, Frank, an ex-con accountant , left town several days earlier. Before he left, Frank had cautioned Phyllis that should anything happen during his absence, under no circumstance should she call the police until she had spoken with him.

After spending the remainder of the night in the relative safety of Dido’s flat, the two, with Dido’s baby in tow, return to Phyllis’ flat to assess the damage and clean up. In the midst of their attempts to deal with the mess, they are interrupted by the doorbell. Two police officers, DS Andrews and DI Moore, announce that they are there to investigate the disturbance of the previous evening.

Because the officers seem to be doing a lot of searching and no questioning, and neither Dido nor Phyllis had reported the break in, Dido suspects the men are not really police officers. Her suspicion is confirmed when her police department friend, Paul Grant, comes in response to Dido’s call and cannot identify either man. Weird things are happening and Dido’s desire to protect Phyllis as well as satisfy her curiosity are clear indications that Dido is about to get involved in dangerous business.

Road Kill is the fourth in Marianne Macdonald’s series featuring Dido Hoare. In the first three books, Ms. Macdonald treats us to an intimate look into the world of buying and selling valuable old books, so it was with some anticipated pleasure that I began reading Road Kill. I was eager to expand my knowledge of old books. Sadly, I was denied this pleasure as there is scarcely a mention of the book trade in Dido’s most recent outing.

Despite my disappointment at the lack of book trivia, I tried to interest myself in the plot. - unsuccessfully. There were too many instances in which it was necessary for Dido to be somewhere, talk to someone, discover something for the plot to advance. In order to accomplish this the author had to contrive some quite unlikely circumstances. Dido’s baby son adds another complication to the mix. She can’t obviously leave him home alone so she totes him with her on missions that are apt to become dangerous. Is this a likely scenario for a responsible mother?

I could, perhaps forgive Ms. Macdonald for not giving me an adequate fix of booklore or for faltering on plot inconsistencies, had she redeemed herself with memorable characters. Alas, she has failed there as well. The only characters I can feel affection for are Dido’s father, Barnabas, who strikes me as a learned, methodical, sensible fellow, and Ernie, Dido’s bookshop assistant and resident computer guru. I particularly disliked Lal Fisher, Phyllis’ husband’s sister. She is portrayed as an uneducated woman from a lower working class background with a vocabulary and speech patterns to match - most of the time. There are situations in which her speech patterns change dramatically and she seems quite articulate. Admittedly, Dido wonders if her lower class persona is all an act, but the author offers no evidence to indicate that this may be the case.

I have enjoyed Death’s Autograph, Ghost Walk, and Smoke Screen, the previous adventures of Dido Hoare. I must confess, however, I found the information on the book trade the most enjoyable part of all three volumes. The total absence of such goodies in Road Kill coupled with a mediocre plot, and annoying characters made the book a disappointment.

--Andy Plonka