Sunday, July 11, 2010

Murder on Elbrus-Charles G. Irion and Ronald J. Watkins

Murder on Elbrus
Charles G. Irion and Ronald J. Watkins
Irion Books May 2010, $19.95
ISBN: 9780984161829

Following the Murder on Mt. Everest fiasco, renowned mountain climber Scott Devlon still remains mentally shook though physically somewhat recovered. However, he knows the criticality of getting back to work so he agrees to observe a European Union conference in Kislovodsk in Southern Russia near the continent’s highest elevation the twin peaks of Mt. Elbrus to discuss refugees caused by the dispute with Georgia.

However, the conference takes an ugly spin when the First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Ivanov Livachev is murdered on Elbrus. Russian security chief at the conference immediately suspects Devlon who was with the victim. Everyone else, including the not so camouflaged American spies, supports the assertion. With Natasha and an international crew of strange bedfellows, Scott flees across the Caucasus in Chechnya with the Russians in pursuit as he seeks to expedite himself from what is an iron clad case against him.

The latest Summit Murder Mystery is a terrific tale as readers obtain a sense of elevated geography for instance how one reaches the summit of Elbrus inside a whodunit with espionage and international geopolitical issues enhancing the thriller. Scott is at his best rushing across vividly described war ravaged Chechnya as he has not fully recovered form the ordeal at the top of the world, but now needs to extract himself from a new dangerous situation in which he unsure who to trust. This is another majestic mountain climbing murder mystery.

Harriet Klausner

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