Black Widower

Chief Superintendant Henry Tibbett and his wife hear from their good friends in Washington DC the exciting news--a murder, right in their neighborhood. And not some everyday crime, but an ambassador's wife shot to death right in the middle of a reception at their own house.Sir Edward Ironmonger, sent to the US from the fictional Caribbean country Tampica, was devoted to his beautiful wife, Mavis. But many had reason to want the woman dead, some because they were incensed at the interracial marriage, some because Mavis was so stupid that she was likely to ruin Ironmonger's career, and some because of past love affairs likely to come back to haunt them. Since the crime took place at the embassy, Ironmonger's seizes the chance to avoid calling in the DC police (he's in the middle of delicate negotiations with the US Navy and doesn't want the US involved in the crime scene) and asks for help from Scotland Yard.I'm not sure how plausible that is, and various other points seem prett unlikely. But I like the mystery and the characters enough to go along with it. The story moves quickly. The Tibbets return again and again to the Caribbean in this book, The Coconut Killings, and Angel Death. This is the first in the Caribbean series, followed by the others in that order.

There is an entire school of English lady mystery writers, of which Agatha Christie is the best known and most outstanding, but certainly not the only one worthy of note. Some have achieved considerable popularity of their own, others are less known. Among the latter are such names as Catherine Aird, Patricia Wentworth, Margery Allingham and Patricia Moyes. Each of these ladies has produced a nice collection of entertaining mysteries set mostly in classic English settings and written in a very readable style. Wentworth's Miss Silver, in particular, is a personal favorite and a worthy rival to Christie's Miss Marple. Unfortunately, most of the books written by these ladies are relatively unknown, out of print and hard to find.Patricia Moyes' chief characters are Scotland Yard Inspector Henry Tibbett and his perceptive wife, Emmy. In BLACK WIDOWER, Sir Edward Ironmonger is the ambassador to the United States from the newly independent island nation of Tampica. The death of his beautiful and temperamental wife on the eve of sensitive negotiations with the US over its Tampican naval base creates a difficult situation. Tampica has nobody qualified to conduct the investigation, but the government wishes to keep US authorities from becoming involved. Because the Tampican embassy is technically Tampican territory, even though it is located in Georgetown near Washington DC, the government exercises its sovereignty and calls in Scotland Yard's Tibbett.This is a very competent, well-plotted mystery. It keeps you guessing right up to the end, the Tibbetts are enjoyable characters, especially if you've met them before, and the writing is smooth and easy to read. Most fans of English "country house" mysteries will find this tale fun to read. The problem, as I noted earlier, is finding a copy of this, or any of Moyes' other books. BLACK WIDOWER is the fourth book by Moyes I've read, and I've enjoyed them all, but they are increasingly hard to find and, unless they are re-printed, it may be quite a while before I read another. If you do run across one of her books, give it a try.