An Enigmatic Disappearance
An Inspector Alvarez Mystery
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Inspector Alvarez likes the quiet life, away from the disapproving gaze of his boss, Superior Chief Salas, and the antics of Mallorca's expatriate community. So he is not inclined to become too concerned when Bevis Ogden, a wealthy British man, reports the disappearance of his attractive young wife, Sabrina. No doubt she has found a younger, possibly wealthier, alternative and left for greener pastures.
However, the discovery of a body at the bottom of a gorge changes his attitude dramatically. The husband is distraught, but is this just an act? Rumors abound over Sabrina's lifestyle-from the lovers to the over-indulgent spending. But their expat pack is rife with unsavory characters: The young gigolo who, dependent on a wealthy older woman, may have had an illicit affair with Sabrina; and the cynical and bitter friend whose advances she may have rejected. The investigation becomes even more complicated when the specter of an insurance fraud is raised.
Alvarez thinks he knows the answer, but proving his theory is another matter. Wittier and fresher than ever, this latest novel in the "good natured, wonderfully ironic, completely captivating" series (Buffalo News), proves that Roderic Jeffries is a clever and compelling storyteller at the top of his form.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Despite a lackluster title, Jeffries's 21st installment in his series featuring Mallorca-based policeman Enrique Alvarez provides the smooth entertainment readers have come to anticipate and relish. The expatriate community resident on Mallorca can't seem to keep itself out of trouble. This never fails to puzzle Alvarez, who marvels at the antics of these foreigners, chiefly English. When Sabrina Ogden, the beautiful, much younger wife of fussy, elderly Bevis Ogden, disappears, Alvarez suspects it is simply the case of a woman bored by her husband's impotence. Alvarez noses around, trying to discern who the other man might be. Is it Rino Ruffolo, handsome Italian boy toy of Ada Heron, English barmaid- turned-millionairess? Or could it be tart-tongued Clive Keane, whose colorless wife thinks him immune to adultery? When Alvarez discovers that Bevis Ogden collected a hefty insurance premium when a previous wife disappeared and later turned up murdered, the cop realizes he could be investigating something more serious than the whereabouts of an errant wife. Jeffries's wit is as quietly mordant as ever, taking the expatriates to task for their despoiliation of the beauties of Mallorca and pointing up the absurdities of the English abroad, who insist on treating all non-English people as "foreigners." This is another small gem in a series that never fails to amuse.
