Publisher's Weekly
The seventh Fiddler mystery (after Money Burns ) is smooth, fast-paced, intricate and ultimately quite satisfying. Narrator/PI Fiddler visits with 75-year-old mentor Rory Cairns on the Washington State coast while Fiora, Fiddler's ex-wife and present lover, negotiates the sale of her California securities business to a Japanese investment firm. Rory, who has named Fiora his heir and given Fiddler an ancient samurai sword, is fatally injured after an apparent burglary. Fiddler and Fiora--who has joined him, planning to finalize her deal in Seattle--are sure of foul play. In Seattle, Fiora's deal turns sour and Fiddler's dealings with a sleazy Japanese businessman, an old martial arts master and various Pike Place hustlers convince him that the sword is extremely valuable and the cause of all the skulduggery. He sets a trap on Rory's boat in a Pacific storm that endangers him and Fiora. Fiercely independent and interdependent, Fiddler and Fiora are attractive leads; Maxwell (actually husband-and-wife team Anne and Evan) captures the slightly goofy sleaze of Seattle's First Avenue nicely.