LESTRADE AND THE GUARDIAN ANGEL: Lestrade Mystery Series Volume VIII **AWARD FINALIST**

Washington, D.C., U.S.A.: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 1999. First U.S. edition with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine, unread copy in fine dust jacket, not price clipped, in protective mylar cover. FINALIST FOR THE LAST LAUGH DAGGER AWARD. "When a horse steps on his foot during public celebrations of Queen Victoria's Jubilee, it's only the first of the problems that will beset Inspector Sholto Lestrade of Scotland Yard, hero of Trow's lively series of period mysteries (this being the eighth). A royal Guardsman is found drowned in the Thames with a war medal stuck between his teeth; the body of an eminent Egyptologist is discovered, an exotic amulet similarly positioned. ``The Curse of the Pharaohs,'' Lestrade's colleagues murmur, while corpses keep popping up, and the inspector undertakes an arduous investigation during which he dons a diving suit, rides with the Yorkshire Hussars, ascends in a balloon, and endures the lascivious attentions of several remarkably forthright women. Lady Randolph Churchill shows up, as do Dr. John Watson (Sherlock Holmes having gone to his reward), the vertically challenged police officer Little Boyd Blue, and ``civilian balloonist'' brothers Gerry and ``Sally'' Mander. One understands why Holmes considered the affable Sholto something of a twit (he commits horrendous wordplay at the drop of a clue, even pronouncing an excitable butler a ``fervent servant). All ends entertainingly, though, as a well-concealed double-surprise finale unmasks the unlikely murderer, leaving Lestrade free to pun at large and investigate again." -- Kirkus Review . First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Book.