John le Carre's eighteenth novel is a towering achievement, taking its place effortlessly among the very best of his work
John le Carre was born in 1931. His third novel, THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, secured him a wide reputation, which was consolidated by the acclaim for his trilogy, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, THE HONOURABLE SCHOOLBOY and SMILEY'S PEOPLE. His recent novels include his most autobiographical work, A PERFECT SPY, THE TAILOR OF PANAMA and SINGLE & SINGLE. THE CONSTANT GARDENER is his eighteenth novel
Superlatives have already been attached to so much of le Carr 's work and they are totally apt for this 18th and brilliantly crafted novel. With the greatest finesse he sets the scene: The wife of a British embassy official in Nairobi is found murdered in the bush, stripped naked and with her throat cut. Her driver has been beheaded. Embassy staff launch a damage limitation exercise because she is, in media terms, the Princess Diana of the African poor but more murkily suspected of an affair with a well-regarded black doctor in the aid community. Worse yet, he is missing and appears to be the murderer. As scandal breaks, the complexities burgeon so that the whodunit at base level becomes a journey through - and damning indictment of - the multi-national pharmaceutical jungle and the toxicity in the corridors of power. Both plot and characters ring with the connoisseur's touch. When a detective asks a Foreign Office stalwart if the murdered woman was a nympho, this is how he prevaricates: "I'm afraid that question is a little above my pay grade."
Superlatives have already been attached to so much of le Carr 's work and they are totally apt for this 18th and brilliantly crafted novel. With the greatest finesse he sets the scene: The wife of a British embassy official in Nairobi is found murdered in the bush, stripped naked and with her throat cut. Her driver has been beheaded. Embassy staff launch a damage limitation exercise because she is, in media terms, the Princess Diana of the African poor but more murkily suspected of an affair with a well-regarded black doctor in the aid community. Worse yet, he is missing and appears to be the murderer. As scandal breaks, the complexities burgeon so that the whodunit at base level becomes a journey through - and damning indictment of - the multi-national pharmaceutical jungle and the toxicity in the corridors of power. Both plot and characters ring with the connoisseur's touch. When a detective asks a Foreign Office stalwart if the murdered woman was a nympho, this is how he prevaricates: "I'm afraid that question is a little above my pay grade."
Tessa Quayle, a beautiful young lawyer, is posted to Nairobi as the wife of British diplomat Justin Quayle. In the course of the voluntary work in which she becomes involved, she uncovers a trail of intentional malfeasance by the vast pharmaceutical multinational KVH, which is fast-tracking a new TB drug using Africans as guinea pigs. She first calls on the British government to intervene and then decides to take her evidence to Richard Leakey. Le Carr's latest novel opens with Tessa's being murdered on her way to Leakey. Tessa was accompanied by her friend Arnold Bluhm, whom the official investigation finds guilty of her murder. But Tessa's husband begins his own probe, following her trail of contacts around the world. Le Carr's ability to draw characters in depth, coupled with his unparalleled plotting and the authority with which he describes settings as various as Nairobi, Elba, Switzerland, and Canada, makes this a propulsive narrative and a lesson in the realities of a world run not by governments but by corporations. Highly recommended.DDavid Dodd, Marin Cty. Free Lib., San Rafael, CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
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