Thursday, July 20, 2023

"Duplicity" by Pete Brassett


Angus and Heather Buchanan and Remo and Anita Carducci have been friends for more than 40 years. Angus and Remo had been crewmates together on a cargo ship, and they’ve been close friends ever since. They went into business together, operating a chain of restaurants, and they’d been known to step on the other side of the law to make a tidy profit. 

On the second Sunday of each month, the Buchanans and the Carduccis get together for lunch, alternating between their homes. This month, it’s the Carduccis’ turn to host, and they fully enjoy the meal and the company. Angus had a gift of a special liquor he left in the car, and he steps out for a moment to retrieve it. But he doesn’t return. The car is still there; his phone and wallet are in his coat pocket hanging on a hook in the hallway. But Angus has vanished.

 

Detective Inspector James Munro has retired from police work, but he’s helping his former sergeant Charlotte West move into her new flat. Despite his best efforts (and largely because the Ayr police department is short several police officers), he finds himself pulled into working with West to investigate the disappearance. And while the surface of the case may look placid, below the surface is anything but placid. Everything changes, and even the changes don’t stay the same.

 

Pete Brassett

Duplicity
 
is the fourth in the Munro and West mystery series by British author Pete Brassett, and it’s a story in which the cup of duplicity overfloweth. Disappearance will lead to murder, which leads to financial shenanigans, drug running, and even West’s old boyfriend (now homeless) showing up looking for a place to stay while he “gets back on his feet.”

 

Brassett, a native Scot, has published 10 novels in the Munro and West series, as well as a number of general fiction and mystery titles. 

 

Duplicity is a story which you have to pay close attention to what’s happening; situations and reality change so much that the people you think you know at the beginning are almost strangers by the end.

 

Related:

 

She by Pete Brassett.

 

Avarice by Pete Brassett.

 

 

Some Thursday Readings

 

Hiding in Plain Sight: The Life and Work of Poet Charles Causley – Patrick Gale at Literary Hub.

 

Invitations to Dwell – Carter Johnson at Front Porch Republic.

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