Pride & Predator

By Sally S. Wright
Multnomah, $9.99

ISBN 1576730840


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Bees, Secrets Sting Man
in Adventurous Mystery

Review by Ramona Richards

Because Jonathan MacLean had been extremely allergic to bees, no one was suspicious about his death. While on his annual cross-country hike, he had died from being stung by several bees. However, when his best friend, Lord Alex Chisholm, and Jon's widow, Ellie, left to retrieve Jonathan's personal effects, they discovered something that raised too many questions. Without enough evidence to go to the police, they turn to Ben Reese, an archivist and former WWII Scout, to look into the circumstances surrounding the death.

Definitely murder, Ben realizes, and as he uncovers more about Jon's life, the suspects abound, and Ben finds his own life in serious danger.

Set in 1961, Pride and Predator, Sally Wright's second novel in the Ben Reese Series, takes place among the landed gentry and small-town business people of Scotland. Her apt descriptions of the rolling lowlands, lush countryside, and murky climate make the reader want to pull a chair a bit closer to the fire as Wright finishes unraveling the tale of family intrigue and international corruption.

For instance, no one imagined that the much-loved minister Jonathan could possibly have any foes desperate enough to kill him. Yet Ben discovers that Jon knew everyone's secrets -- the trader who had been selling illegal chemicals to the Egyptians, the church official who was having an affair, the obsessive church secretary who had loved Jon since childhood, and the jilted lover of the now-widowed Ellie.

Jon even had a few secrets of his own, such as the man who had been threatening Jon for years, accusing him of having murdered the man's brother. Motives abound, but who has the shakiest alibi? And would Jon's will reveal a yet deeper motive?

Sally Wright has produced in Ben Reese a new detective who is as intriguing as the stories that surround him. Haunted by his wife's death and ongoing nightmares about his experiences during World War II, Ben hides himself in his work as an archivist and amateur sleuth. Likewise, the major characters in Pride and Predator are well drawn and fairly likable, even the nasty ones. The secondary characters are flat and more numerous than necessary to advance the plot, but this is a minor flaw in an otherwise enjoyable mystery. Rather than relying on the violence and crudeness of a hard-boiled detective or the primness of an English drawing room mystery, Pride and Predator gives us just enough of both to fascinate the reader's need for intrigue as well as satisfy the desire for a good adventure.

Ramona Richards is an editor and writer who lives in Hermitage, TN.

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