The Water Lily Cross

by Anthony Eglin

Retired professor and amateur sleuth, Lawrence Kingston is back for a third adventure, following on from The Blue Rose and The Lost Garden (the latter reviewed on this site). This time his old friend Stewart Halliday has vanished from his Hampshire home, and his distraught wife urges Lawrence to find out what has happened to him. He soon discovers that Stewart was working on a project to grow water lilies, but these plants have a very special purpose of the sort that people will stop at nothing to possess.

Horticulture, culinary appreciation and cryptic crosswords add up to an engaging cozy, add in some exciting adventures involving top secret research and kidnapping and you have a jewel of a book. This is an original series marrying classic era adventure with modern science and world issues in an engaging style. Bon viveur Lawrence lives life to the full and Eglin paints a picture of an upper middle class world where money is no object and problems can be dealt with in a charmingly direct manner. As cozy as an easy chair and a glass of single malt, this is a series to savor.