THE MAGPIE'S SHADOW

 

THE MAGPIE’S SHADOW

A George “Magpie” Collins Mystery

By Len Driscoll

Blowing Glass Media

157 pgs

 

In this, his third Magpie Collins mystery, writer Len Driscoll offers up the thief-turned-private eye his most complex and deadly case. Society dame, Mrs. Evelyn Hartwell comes to Collins in the hopes he can retrieve her stolen jewels. They were taken from the bedroom safe during a charity gala she and her husband were hosting at their stately downtown mansion. Aside from being priceless items, Mrs. Hartwell informs Collins that the pieces taken belonged to her mother and grandmother and have sentimental value that can’t be measured in dollar bills.

Collins takes the case and soon learns that among the guests at the soiree was young Charles Weatheby, the son of Judge Weatherby; a man who has no love for the Hartwells due to a past business transaction gone sour. No sooner is the Sydney shamus investigating the household staff and other attendees, then Charles supposedly commits suicide via an overdue of drugs. His death seems too convenient at a time when Collins was beginning to uncover clues that pointed to serious mob involvement. Collins instincts tell him the lad was murdered to keep him quiet.  

In “The Magpie’s Shadow,” Driscoll weaves a taut thriller that pulls the reader along with the hero until it becomes all too apparent that the simple theft was merely the first link to a citywide opium smuggling ring and municipal corruption. It is a dandy of a mystery and page turner. As with his previous two Collins books, Driscoll continues to showcase a pre-World War II Australia and that is a joy to discover. Don’t miss this one.