A Wisp of Smoke
St. Martin's Press, 1992. Item #83102
First American edition. Near Fine book in a Near Fine dust jacket.
📚 **"A Wisp of Smoke" by Roy Lewis** is the sixth installment in the Arnold Landon mystery series, blending murder investigation with historical intrigue and a touch of romance.
### 🕵️♂️ Plot Overview
- **Protagonist**: Arnold Landon, a shy, middle-aged planning officer in Durham with a passion for medieval architecture.
- **Inciting Incident**: Landon is asked to complete a book on Rosicrucian's after its original author, Ken Andrews—a former Army officer—is murdered.
- **Complications**:
- A local vagrant is arrested for the murder.
- Landon is suspended from his job under suspicious circumstances.
- He teams up with Jane Wilson, a forthright novelist and advocate for the accused vagrant.
- **Themes**: The story explores corruption, hidden pasts, and the tension between scholarly pursuits and real-world danger.
- **Tone**: Compared to earlier books in the series, this one is lighter and more dynamic, with less focus on architecture and more on suspense and character relationships.
### 📖 Author Background
Roy Lewis (John Royston Lewis) was a prolific English crime writer and law educator. He authored over 60 novels, many set in northern England, and also published legal texts under the name J.R. Lewis.
Price: $25.00