Mat Coward Open and Closed

Open and Closed

Mat Coward

Five Star, Nov 2005, $25.95, 240 pp.

ISBN: 1594142742

Though only a few years old, the relatively popular North London's Bath Street Library is closing because the party in power changed, and wants to eradicate any progressive traces initiated by their predecessors. The Libraries Open for Everyone, protests the closing with a sit-in. However, someone murders one of the eight protesters, popular activist octogenarian Bert "Bolshi" Rosen, who was carrying a handgun as if he expected trouble, but obviously never used it when he was strangled to death with a ligature by someone who knew him; one of the magnificent seven protesters.

Cowden CID DC Frank Mitchell and his superior DI Don Packham, head the investigation into the locked door mystery. They struggle with why Bert the Bolshi was packing a gun, but hope to eliminate suspects by accounting for their time, even bathroom breaks. They interrogate the seven suspects, beginning with the branch librarian Dot Estevez, but finding the guilty party remains difficult, as no one has the opportunity, and the motive is even murkier.

Though the who-done-it never takes center stage, the cast make for an amusing tale. Readers will appreciate the sardonic wit of the DI, and the wary acceptance by his direct employee. The seven suspects are an eccentric lot, while the victim adds to the overall feel of a zany group, starring ironically in a cozy. Mat Coward writes a fun British police procedural.

Harriet Klausner