An enjoyable suspense crime thriller with dirty tactics thrown in. ( )

Miles Faulkner has returned to London and is vowing revenge on William Warwick, Commander Hawksby and Ross Hogan. This only intensifies as the Rubens painting that he supposedly donated to the Fitzmolean Museum has been swapped for the copy he actually donated. Faulkner hatches a plan to bring them all down by arranging the heist of the century, to steal the Crown. As Britain welcomes in the Blair era the police have a very short time to sort this out.
As ever, Archer is the consummate storyteller and this book is no exception. I find these novels rather quaint, not quite cosy crime but definitely an edge of the seats thriller. Everything is quite gentlemanly and dated which fits the late 20th century setting. The period references are perfect and this is another wonderfully fun book. It doesn't challenge but it does entertain. ( )