Many of you are familiar with Quintin Jardine who writes the popular series of Skinner mysteries. Quintin has another series about a private investigator Oz Blackburn and his partner/lover Primavera. The latest of those books is "A Coffin For Two." Oz and Prim have relocated in the small town of St. Marti, on the rugged coast of Costa Brava in northern Spain. They purchase a beautiful apartment which is secluded and have spectacular views of the sea. The tranquility of their retreat is shaken to the foundation by two events. First, Oz becomes involved in a local scheme to move a body found in a coffin with an ancient Roman, thus the title "A Coffin for Two." The second body had to moved from St. Marti to a more remote area since it's discovery would hurt the tourist traffic the town depends upon. I found it hard to believe that someone with Oz's background would get involved in such a illegal scheme. It was even more surprising later in the book to find the body was moved again by the local police. Bodies do really get around in Spain. The second event was Prim concluded they have had enough time off and they need to get active again. So Blackstone Spanish Investigations was established. BSI goal was to provide investigator services in Spain for people in England. The organization of BSI brings into focus the two main plots of this novel. The two plots run side by side through out the novel. It throws Oz back into the arms of Jan, his former lover and longtime friend. I found the strongest point in the novel was Oz Blackstone's struggle to resolve his turmoil over loving two women and knowing he was not being fair to either of them. Feeling he must choose, Quintin Jardine sensitive description gives deep insight into the soul of his character man BSI's first contract to help authenticate a picture believed to be an never before seen Salvador Dali leads Oz and Prim from a private auction which was a scams to a search for the man who was the body which Oz has helped move. "Coffin for Two" was a first class mystery plot until the end. The ending was unpredictable which all good mysteries strive to achieve but I found the ending impossible to believe and it weakened the impact of the book for me.

The same event that ends the mystery part of the novel also is related to the search Oz is making for the answer to his dilemma of loving two women. In the context of that thread of the book the ending fit beautifully leaving the reader with warm understanding of one tear.

Because this book had so many strong points I wanted to award it four thistles but just could not with the ending of the mystery so hard for me to believe. If the book were two novels rating it would have been easier. The mystery of the moving body, the Dali picture, and the murders associated with the fraud I would have given three thistles. The other a story of a man struggling to resolve loving two women and how that was concluded I would give a strong four thistles. Since I can not divide the novel into two and must look at it as a whole I have given it a three thistle rating.