State Department Cat [Hardcover] Mary Plum

Mary Plum will be remembered by thousands of English readers for “The Killing of Judge McFarlane” and other detective stories. In “State Department Cat” she writes a very topical thriller about sinister doings in the State Department at Washington where Trouble, the cat, has gained a reputation for starting things. When Trouble caressed the immaculate trouser leg of George Stair, applicant for the Foreign Service, George promptly failed his examination. Worse still, when entrusted with a brief-case of papers loaded with international dynamite, he lost them. Arson, robbery, an exotic siren and a red-headed girl get mixed up with George and Trouble before the papers are recovered, and if the diplomatic service is not really as exciting as this the incidental detail is beautifully authentic.