British pro golfer Alan Saxon accepts an invitation to play in a tournament at a swank California golf club, but the first night brings the murder of his friend Zuke, who might otherwise have won the tournament, and Saxon sets off to find the killer
Keith Miles (born 1940) is an English author, who writes under his own name and also historical fiction and mystery novels under the pseudonym Edward Marston. He is known for his mysteries set in the world of Elizabethan theater. He has also written a series of novels based on events in the Domesday Book.
The protagonist of the theater series is Nicholas Bracewell, the bookholder of a leading Elizabethan theater company (in an alternate non-Shakespearean universe).
The latter series' two protagonists are the Norman soldier Ralph Delchard and the former novitiate turned lawyer Gervase Bret, who is half Norman and half Saxon.
His latest series of novels are based in early Victorian period and revolve around the fictional railway detective Inspector Robert Colbeck.
The book is a good read and, I imagine, especially so for someone who golfs, as I don’t. The main character, Alan, is likable and well drawn. After a couple books, one does feel like one knows him. Unfortunately, he is always withholding information from the police and putting himself in danger, without any evidence that he is actually smarter than the police. I am not sure I believe that his anti-police reaction justifies his reluctance to be truthful. Maybe by the 4th or 5th book if there are that many, that he will give up that attitude and cooperate. Or is that the only way he stays ahead of the police, by not telling them all the facts. This is not an astute detective, just a foolish one.
Merely okay. A decent enough plot, but the dialogue is horrific, particularly the LA cops (as this takes place in California). NO ONE talks (or talked) as Marston has these cops speak. Very off-putting. I'd use a pseudonym, too, if I wrote like this.