Anthony Eglin The Water Lily Cross

The Water Lily Cross

Anthony Eglin

Dunne, May 2007, $23.95

ISBN: 0312365462

When Stewart Halliday disappears, his wife asks his friend and former peer, retired London botanist Lawrence Kingston, to investigate. Kingston goes through Halliday's notes to seek clues to his whereabouts. In his colleague's date book he finds a coded message that he breaks down only to find another cryptic puzzler.

Kingston soon concludes that Halliday found a cheap effective way to desalinate ocean water using a salt eating water lily. The benefits to mankind are obvious, but also apparent are the huge profits to be made. Kingston concludes avarice has led to the abduction of Halliday. As he continues his inquiries, someone tries to kill Kingston and succeeds in murdering a wealth patron. Each step to rescue his buddy proves more dangerous than the previous ones, but the scientist refuses to quit even when the Russian mafia seems the prime cause of the tsunami that threatens his life.

The third English Garden cozy (see THE BLUE ROSE and LOST GARDENS) is an enjoyable mystery that centers on what many scientists believe is a global crisis: the lack of enough fresh water. Kingston's deciphering of puzzles and other horticultural clues is cleverly designed so though he is an amateur sleuth his line of investigating comes out of his professional background. Readers will appreciate his efforts to rescue his colleague even during those times when he soars towards a caricature of a superhero.

Harriet Klausner