Starling,
Boris. Visibility. Dutton. March 2007. c366p. ISBN 978-0-525-94996-1.
$25.95. Fiction.
In December 1952, during London’s “Great
Fog,” a miasma that would claim thousands of lives,
visibility in the city is down to mere feet. In this murky
world, Herbert Smith, formerly of MI5, now a misfit in Scotland
Yard’s Murder Squad, discovers that a drowning victim,
a biochemist, was actually murdered. At an international conference
on the day of his death, the scientist had approached three
individuals involved in espionage—Herbert’s former
boss at MI5, a Soviet journalist for Izvestia, and the ranking
CIA officer under U.S. Embassy cover—and had offered
to the highest bidder a secret that he claimed would change
the world. As Herbert tries to solve the case, he finds himself
drawn to Hannah Mortimer, a blind police diver and Holocaust
survivor. When Herbert
discovers two microdots and deciphers their coded message,
he and Hannah find a connection that ultimately ties all these
individuals together and threatens both their lives. British
author Starling (Vodka) offers a topnotch espionage
mystery that exudes atmosphere. Highly recommended for all
popular fiction collections.