Treasure Up in Smoke

A delightfully offbeat murder mystery amid West Indian hi-jinks of an extraordinarily wacky natureBanker-Detective Mark Treasure’s first two adventures were related in Unholy Writ ("a first novel, educated and refreshingly traditional, involving mayhem and wickedness in the English middle classes”—Library Journal) and Treasure by Degrees (“in the best traditions of the classic British mystery”—N.Y. Times Book Review). Now, in an antic change of pace, Treasure and his actress-wife Molly visit a bizarre island that is straight out of the fantasies of Evelyn Waugh. The descendents of a 17th-century pirate named O’Hara have traditionally ruled this West Indian paradise, but their preeminence is now threatened by the ambitious industrial plans of a firebreathing parvenu. Treasure ’s role, intended to be one of financial consultation, takes a more active turn when the last surviving O’Hara is found decapitated during a traditional ceremony, and Treasure ’s junior banking colleague is seen making his escape in a state of undress. It all adds up to a colorful and wildly exuberant romp from one of Britain’s fastest rising literary stars.