Illegal Tender

Three Oaks #12

by Gerald Hammond

A hardcover book.

Genres: Mystery

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Gerald Hammond, (Gerald Arthur Douglas Hammond) son of Frederick Arthur Lucas (a physician) and Maria Birnie (a nursing sister) Hammond; married Gilda Isobel Watt (a nurse), August 20, 1952; children: Peter, David, Steven. Education: Aberdeen School of Architecture, Dip. Arch., 1952. He served in the British Army, 1944-45. Although born in Bournemouth, Hampshire, England, he worked in and retired to the country he most loved, Scotland.

He also writes under the names of Arthur Douglas and Dalby Holden. He was an architect for thirty years before retiring to write novels full-time in 1982. He has written over 50 novels since the late 1960s.

His novels center around guns, shooting, hunting, fishing, and dog training.

Reviews

[Charles van Buren]

Usual Three Oaks series mystery. According to the forward by Mr. Hammond the last in the series but there is a thirteenth volume on Amazon.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scotland. Hunting dogs. Whiskey. Pretty good.

[Viva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won't explain the setting as this series should be read from the start. Spoilers ahead. This book really shows its age as it talks about e-mail scams. Actually e-mail scams are still going on as I'm getting them daily but this occurred in the book at a time when they were relatively new. Cunningham's ward Elizabeth is scammed of a huge amount. She is financially strong and can take the hit. However, further investigation reveals that the scam is connected to her business empire. It turns out that one of her firm's clients has been mismanaged badly by the current owner and an upcoming audit may mean that her firm would take it over. So the current owner's son concocted a scheme to steal £1M from Elizabeth to cover his company's losses and keep control of it. Overall a well written plot.

[Jim Purcell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hammond's series are always a quick and enjoyable read. This one features Uncle Henry with dogs only briefly useful and visible. Murder of an unpleasant man and internet fraud are the featured crimes with a story line that moves briskly and has cameo roles for most of the usual cast.