A Place of Hiding

In this latest from bestseller Elizabeth George, China River, recuperating from a failed love affair, agrees to accompany her ne'er-do-well brother Cherokee to the Channel Islands to hand-deliver a set of architectural drawings to an expatriate millionaire whose plans to fund a museum commemorating the war-time exploits of his Guernsey neighbors comes a cropper after he's found dead under suspicious circumstances. George spins an intricate and lively plot that spotlights the efforts of series regulars Deborah and Simon St. John to help Deborah's old friends free themselves; in the process, she introduces a fascinating cast of secondary characters, many of whom had much more obvious motives to wish Guy Brouard dead than the California siblings who seem tailor-made for a frame-up. A fine addition to George's ouevre, this thirteenth outing in her popular series will delight her fans. --Jane Adams