The Magyar Cipher Murders

About the Book

Tug skipper Hank Sutter meets refugee Hungarian ballerina Tatiana (Tats) Kovacs over the body of her brother Sandy after he falls nineteen floors to his death. From a note, police assume Kovacs was a suicide but Tatiana says, ÒSandy wouldnÕt write such a note to me. He was murdered.Ó HankÕs kindness impresses Tats and romance blossoms despite her personal tragedy. She enlists him as her detective. His investigation takes him to the refugee community from the Hungarian revolution, to shady waterfront characters, and to shipping agents with peculiar connections. He makes little progress. Then the killers decoy Hank with a phony midnight call to report aboard his ship. In his absence, they kidnap Tatiana. A telephoned warning says she will die unless he drops his investigation. Hank spots a hit-man tailing one of his informants and, in a bloody fight, nearly kills the punk. But he canÕt get an answer to his question. Where is Tatiana? ÒOne call from me and sheÕs dead,Ó the punk sneers. The police agree to keep the killer isolated in a hospital secure ward but the man is demanding a lawyer and thereÕs a time limit. A clue planted by Tats the night of her kidnap leads Hank to locate the killerÕs Òsafe houseÓ -- but can he reach it before the thug makes good his threat? In a wild melee aboard HankÕs tug he discovers that the beautiful ballerina he loves isnÕt the delicate creature she seemed. She takes no prisoners.

About the Author

First he was a commercial fisherman, then a boat builder, tow boater (mate and engineer) and, later, worked as a naval architect and mechanical designer. He now writes full time from his home in Campbell River B.C. He draws from his own history and that of friends and `people observedÕ for the stuff of his stories. If you want to know more, read his books. HeÕs in there somewhere.