AustLit

'Roddy Mckenzie had just arrived home at Corriedale, the tall house built of local stone that gazes over the Indian Ocean at Cottesloe, Western Australia. The doorbell rang to announce the unexpected arrival of Inspector Colin Nicol from the Unsolved Crime Squad of London Metropolitan Policethe Yard. He claimed to be retired and spent a short time affably enjoying Roddys hospitality. Then he issued the threatening news. He was working on a casethe murder of a London lawyer, Bartolemeusz. His prime suspects were Erik Barron and Roddy Mckenzie. They must plan and take action to overcome this threat.

'Jessica, Roddys wife, and Helen, her daughter, will be facing an academically demanding year when their summer vacation is over. As part of his plan to confront Nicol, Roddy and the family travel to Scotland and England and visit Roddys mother again; and in England, Roddy Jessica and Helen join a group of guests at Ranelagh, the Hampshire estate of Hugh and Miette Verney where Roddy had spent his halcyon days after he and Erik had served together in the Battle of Hill 365 in the Korean War.

'Inspector Nicol had been given cause for deep thought and personal examination of his values. His investigation had brought about a reaction from MI6 and the Foreign Office. He travels to Africa to talk with the inspector who first handled the Bartolemeusz case and with Erik Barron on the model mining venture he has created at Lubumbashi.

'After the resolution of the murder case, the lives of Jessica, Helen, Roddy, and Jane go on in satisfying achievement and personal development among many good friends. Then tragedy strikes. Jessica is killed in a horrifying road accident. Roddy is heartbroken. Helen is resilient but fears for her dads happiness. He needs someone to fill the painful emotional gap. She brings about the happy marriage of Jane and Roddy. Tragedy strikes again when Roddy suffers a brief but fatal illness.

'Jane and Helen, their grieving having found an end, live on at the old memory-filled Corriedale in the Mackenzies Calm Crescendo.' 

 (Publication summary)