Skinner's Trail

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From Publishers WeeklyHe's Robert Skinner, a high ranking Edinburgh policeman. He's got a villa in Spain, two houses in Scotland, the world's best behaved newborn and the world's most resilient new mother, in her late 30s, for a wife. He's a crack shot and a tough-fisted guy with a crass, insensitive, sexist posture who is a distinctly unpleasant fictional creation. In Skinner's third appearance, after Skinner's Festival, a crime lord is murdered in Edinburgh, and a property swindle is uncovered in a Spanish resort town. Skinner gets to log some flying hours, shout at admiring subordinates, swear unnecessarily in mixed company and solve two cases that the author links by coincidence rather than design. Jardine's collection of villains is instantly forgettable. With the exception of the amazingly stalwart Ms. Skinner, most of the women in the book are odoriferous hookers or office underlings required to serve biscuits and coffee to Skinner and the other North Country Neanderthals he hangs out with. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. From BooklistAssistant Chief Constable Bob Skinner has plenty of responsibilities to juggle, what with the birth of his son, Edinburgh's increasing crime rate, and the murder of local businessman Tony Manson, whose chain of Laundromats provided a legitimate front for his drug-dealing and prostitution rings. The case all comes down to money, of course, with Manson's numerous nefarious schemes, from fiddling with his company funds to running illegal land scams in Spain, all producing plenty of suspects. The investigation takes Skinner from Scotland to Spain to Amsterdam as he tries to track down the missing money, nail the killer, and close the case. Jardine offers up a superb plot that's chock-full of high-octane action, keep-'em-guessing twists and turns, and a slam-bang ending that's as satisfying as it is surprising. Another winner from this very talented writer. Emily Melton