1991 mystery/police procedural, fourth in the John Sanders/Harriet
Jeffries series. A corporate chairman is found shot in a hotel room,
and it looks as if the people who did it are going after the witness
too, even though she doesn't know much.
This isn't really a Sanders/Jeffries book; they show up from time
to time, returning from vacation after the main plot has got started,
but the story is mostly about Sergeant Rob Lucas (introduced in a
minor part in the previous book), who gets the initial call because he
was covering for a colleague's long lunch, puts the pieces together,
and ends up realising that the only person in the police whom he can trust
to keep the witness safe is… himself.
All right, there are definite shades of the 1977 Eastwood/Locke film
Gauntlet, as the policeman starts off hating the prostitute he's
protecting but both of them manage to get beyond those stereotypes of
themselves as well as of each other, while the rest of the police
regard them as fugitives and someone on the force is definitely bent.
But there's rather less gunplay, and rather more injury, hiding and
recovery, not to mention actual police work when we cut back to the
rest of the force in Toronto trying to work out what's going on and
why a respected cop would suddenly go rogue.
There's some doubt about the potential culpability of the witness, and
indeed of the victim's widow, but there aren't many surprises here;
where there's virtue beyond the usual it's in the character study of
the leads. I suspect Sale may be one of those writers who thinks that
stable couples are boring; Sanders and Jeffries are now firmly in a
relationship, and their level of banter has dropped sharply, perhaps
to provide a contrast with the new people.
Not a brilliant work by any means, but an interesting twist on a
well-worn story.
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