Yes, it’s spring (by the calendar anyway) and Jack Colby is taking to the road again – this time on his fourth case Classic Mistake, when he throws himself into hunting down the killer of his former wife’s Mexcian band-leader husband, Carlos. Jack is horrified when the tempestuous Eva rings him for help, not from Mexico but from the nearby River Medway in Kent where Carlos has been found murdered on the towpat. It’s normally a peaceful spot, but no spot is peaceful when Eva is around – especially as she is chief suspect. Luckily, she wasn’t around, except in my imagination,when Jim and I strolled along the towpath last year to the wonderful Malta Inn. There we sat and watched the baots go by, then crossed the nearby bridge to the far side of the river where we watched boats entering and leaving Allington Lock. We had come by Shanks’s pony, i.e. on foot, but Jack of course came by car to the lock in his mercy dash to help Eva. On returning to his Frogs Hill home, he is greeted by a beautiful blonde called Daisy, who demands that he finds her missing Morris Minor car, called Melody, which causes Jack almost as much trouble as Eva.
Now that Classic Mistake is published, the deadline for sending Jack’s next case, Classic in the Pits, to the publishers suddenly seems very close. In this case, Morris Minors have given way to a Porsche and a Morgan that cause problems for Jack, and it is due to be published later this year – provided I get on with the job …
…Trouble is, I’ve just had a good idea for a short story featuring Auguste Didier, and I’m wondering whether I dare divert from a twenty-first century car detective to a Victorian master chef with a knack for sleuthing … No, I can hear Jack indignantly calling me back to the plot.