Dead Ringer

"Bracing wit, taut dialogue and a suspenseful plot that features several betrayals and some essential mayhem" (Publishers Weekly).

Jerry Boyes used to be one of the most in-demand stuntmen in the business, until a car accident left him maimed and unable to work. So when a former actor for whom Jerry used to double turns up with a job offer he's suited for, Boyes jumps at the chance.

It'll be three thousand for one week's work: All Boyes has to do is hand over half a million in ransom money to the kidnappers of Howard Maxwell, a multimillionaire businessman, after helping the victim's wife gather the money.

But it's not as easy as it sounds. Maxwell may have been rich in capital assets, but he has almost no cash. And as Boyes agrees to help the distraught wife, he cannot help feeling that things are not what they seem . . .

"A traditionally plotted British mystery in a modern setting . . . The writing is expert, the characterizations are well realized, and Boyes himself is an interesting man with some deep inner problems to overcome." —The New York Times Book Review