The Low Road — Reginald Hill

Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe series has delighted readers on both sides of the Atlantic. This entertaining mystery, appearing in hardcover for the first time, was originally published as a paperback in 1974 as Death Takes the Low Road under the pseudonym Patrick Ruell. As a passionate young man, William Hazlitt joined the Communist Party, and now his old comrades are asking for a favor. But Britain's intelligence agency gets wind of the request, and they want Hazlitt to turn double agent. Panicked, Bill decides to escape to Scotland and figure out his options, but he's followed by agents from both the party and British intelligence. Bill's girlfriend is worried about his unexplained disappearance and decides to track him down. Pursued like a rat in a maze, Bill finds someone's after him at every turn. After a suspenseful but hilarious chase around Scotland, Bill not only outwits his pursuers but also unmasks a pair of dangerous traitors at his university.