The Empty House - Michael Gilbert

I think I need a new camera.  I spilled orange juice on it a couple of years ago, but I don't think that's why I get such blurry photos.  My husband says I move the camera when I click the button.  Maybe so.  Anyway, I apologize for the slightly blurry photo of The Empty House.  I'm not a photographer.

Look at that cover.  Doesn't it look like a flying car?  Maybe something from a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Dr. Who?  I'd been putting off reading The Empty House because I'm not much into science fiction, but Yvette at http://yvettecandraw.blogspot.com likes Michael and I like Yvette and most of the books and movies she recommends.

I started The Empty House on Saturday, was hooked after the first few pages (which also explained the flying car), and finished it on Sunday.  I will definitely be looking for more Michael Gilbert mysteries.

Peter Manciple, a young insurance adjuster, is sent to Devon to investigate the death of Dr. Wolfe, a scientist working on genetic research and bio weapons for the government.  His car went straight off a cliff into the ocean (hence the flying car on the cover).  Neither the car nor his body can be recovered from the dangerous area of the sea where it sank.

By the way, there's a very funny couple of pages near the beginning of the book, when Peter goes to visit Dr. Wolfe's sister.  She's got three dogs, and if you've ever had multiple pets, you'll be nodding your head and giggling from just before she answers the door until the door closes behind Peter.

Peter is suspicious of the accident.  Was it an accident?  Was it suicide?  Or murder?  An unusual clause in Wolfe's fairly new insurance policy seems to have been written just for this type of incident.  The government is covering up a lot of things in Devon.  Other scientists have disappeared or died.  Peter comes to realize that the village is one of those where no one is who they seem to be.  (Sort of like in Hot Fuzz, one of my favorite movies;  it's hilarious!  Or a village in an episode of The Avengers, not the superhero one, the one from the 1960s, with Emma Peel and John Steed.)

I can't tell you much more except that Peter realizes that he can trust almost no one.  He becomes a target when people think he knows more than he does.  He makes mistakes that get people killed or roughed up, but he comes to the right conclusion in the end.  There's a nice twist, but I won't tell you what it is.  Read it and enjoy it yourself.