Variations

The three novellas in this book are linked by a common theme, criminality. In two of them, there is a murder investigation; and in another, there is wrongdoing both in the private world and on the international scene. Jane is the story of a young woman who hires a private detective to prove the innocence of her father, who has been convicted of a murder he did not commit. Sargent, in a documentary style, follows the fortunes and misfortunes of an English family, variously active in religion and literature and warfare. Final Lap reintroduces Inspector Coggin and Sergeant Sump, featured in previous novels: they investigate the murder of a shady character connected to organized crime; and on the side they look into drug-fuelled corruption in track-and-field. Two of the novels are set in Toronto, where the author worked for thirty-four years. And one is set in an English village like the one he lived in during boyhood, and in Germany, which he visited often during his radio career.