1994 mystery, sixth and last in the John Sanders/Harriet Jeffries
series. Sanders and Jeffries are setting off on a romantic holiday in
New Mexico when they find themselves giving a lift to two children
who've missed the tour bus on which they were supposed to hitch a
ride. Then things start getting quite strange.
There are plot layers within layers, so I won't go into much
detail about that; the hijacking of the bus is only the first step,
and the second is the way in which nobody on it seems to be quite as
they appear. There's never much doubt about just who is going to turn
out to be responsible for it all, but why he's doing it is the
mystery.
We also see the same pattern of subplot that showed up in books 4 and
5, of a woman whose life is a bit of a mess getting into trouble with
criminals and falling in love with her rescuer – which is all very
well and not objectionable in itself, but for three books in a row
gets a bit much.
What really impressed me, though, was the stupidity of the villain:
for someone supposed to have been smart enough to get police and state
officials in his pocket, he does an awful lot of leaping to
conclusions.
Still, the story is enjoyable, and the people are interesting. Having
now read all of the Sanders and Jeffries books, I don't regret it, but
nor can I really say that they fulfilled the promise I saw in that
first short story in Christmas Stalkings. There are flashes of
excellence, certainly, but this isn't a series I'd go out of my way to
recommend.
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