By the time he published Dead Trouble in 1971, D.M. Devine had transformed into Dominic Devine. Since his first name was David, I don't really understand this and I'd be interested to know what the thinking was. Maybe it was thought that, from a marketing perspective, initials were unappealing in the Seventies? But if so, why call himself Dominic? It's a puzzle, but frankly far less important than the mystery in the book - which, as usual with Devine, is very strong.

The opening scenes are set in Paris. A young man called Neville Richardson is looking to make the acquaintance of a particular girl; both of them are English. When someone else pesters the young woman, Neville seizes his chance. He befriends her, and although she is at first stand-offish, his easy charm steadily diminishes her resistance.

We learn that Alma Vallance, as she is called, is the daughter of a famous popular novelist who hasn't published a book for years, but is very wealthy. Alma is lovely to look at, but - to say the least - highly strung. Neville, it emerges, already knows a good deal about her. He's a chancer who has been put up to something, and it's not clear what his game is. One of the things Alma doesn't know about him is that he's married, although his long-suffering wife has thrown him out after he took one chance too many.  

This is a story with many twists and turns and once again Devine shows himself to be a master of the surprising solution. His writing style is relatively plain but his stories always move at a fast pace and his characterisation is generally good and sometimes excellent. So is the way he structures his mysteries so as to keep his readers guessing. Not for the first time, I admired the way he pulled the wool over my eyes.