Pursuit and Persuasion

If you feared that you were going to be killed and had a good idea who it might be, would you leave a cryptic note asking a friend to investigate even the most natural-appearing death if it happened--and not name your suspect? That's the premise of this pleasant third entry in Sally Wright's Ben Reese series (Publish and Perish, Pride and Predator) and unlikely as it may be, she makes do with it more than adequately. Georgina Fletcher is a Scottish academic, a sensible woman troubled in the weeks before her seemingly natural death by knowledge of some unpleasantness in her family's history and a strong desire to make amends for the misdeeds of her forbears. When a former student of American archivist Ben Reese inherits Georgina's estate, she asks him to help her solve the professor's mystery so that she can carry out Georgina's wishes. Ben's investigation turns up several likely suspects in Georgina's demise, and the secret of how she was killed. Along the way, the reader is treated to descriptions and explanations of matters as far-ranging as falconry, stone-sculpting, microbiology, and rare book collecting. A relatively bloodless cozy with pacing as slow as a country stroll, Pursuit and Persuasion presents the petty rivalries of academia nicely. Ben Reese, whose background as a World War II scout provides enough of a provenance to put him in the detecting business, is an interesting protagonist who warrants a fuller portrayal. --Jane Adams