THE BLACK SEAM

 

THE BLACK SEAM

A George “Magpie” Collins Mystery

By Len Driscoll

Glowing Eyes Media

110 pages

 

In this second Magpie Collins novel, the post-World War II gumshoe is hired by a psychiatrist named Eleanor Whitman who is being blackmailed. Whitman, in treating the son of a wealthy mining tycoon, Charles Ashford, is employing experimental techniques that might be considered both unorthodox and illegal. Her patient, young Robert Ashford had been dealing with severe post-traumatic syndrome after a mining operation he was supervising collapsed and killed five men. Enough so that he committed suicide unable to live with his part in the tragedy. 

Collins, in the course of his investigation, learns that Robert, while under Whitman’s care, had begun to suspect the actual cave-in had been orchestrated by his own father to silence those miners complaining about the lack of safety features in particular tunnels. To that end, Ashford senior, concerned his son’s accusation might become public, coerced Whitman to alter the lad’s mental health and derail his suspicions. 

It’s a tangled web woven by a soulless man unwilling to relinquish his power and prestige, even at the cost of his own son’s life. Once again, Collins wonderfully displays the Australian settings to perfection, dramatizing the frontier atmosphere of the outlying hills away from metropolitan cities such as Sydney. The story is suspenseful, well plotted with some truly memorable characters. At the heart of which is Magpie’s own obsession with truth and justice daring to challenge the powerful regardless of the cost. Once again Len Driscoll has given us a really good tale well worth your attention and support.