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Garber, Joseph R.

In a Perfect State

London, Simon & Schuster. 368 pp. £9.99.

If this fast-paced tale is true to life, one can understand why American executives die of heart strain.

Jack Taft, newly promoted, jet-legged, arrives in Singapore, described here as a smotheringly protective society of little white mice, docilely obedient to their masters' whims. Where there are mice, there are mousers. The mousers have been ordered to eliminate Jack Taft.

And so the fun begins.

Singapore's tough cops and mobsters have been told to kill him, and he is trapped on this tiny island. He has to clear his name, but what has he done? Only one person helps him. She is gorgeous beyond the stuff of dreams, wanting to marry him and get out of the place, while he has an equally gorgeous beloved back home, who might possibly have set him up. Intrigue within intrigue, and clearly a book to take with you when you visit Singapore.

Though assisted by Singapore's authorities, Garber reports that his informants begged for anonymity when they spoke of their nation's shortcomings and political oddities. Nonetheless, he does not urge Westernized values on an Eastern land. "We Americans have tried our hand at that before, and the results were not pretty to look at."

Gash, Jonathan

A Rage, a Bone and a Hank of Hair

London, Macmillan. 344 pp. £16.99.

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The Rich and the Profane

London, Pan Books. 354 pp. £5.99.

How does one tell whether an antique is genuine or forged? Enter Lovejoy, no mean forger himself. Lovejoy is a divvy. In the presence of a genuine antique he displays all the physical signs that this is the genuine article. But with this gift comes the down side: Lovejoy cannot do the same when it comes to people. Lovejoy knows of both attributes, but cannot do anything about it. The ungodly know of both attributes, but they do know what to do about it.

In A Rag, a Bone and a Hank of Hair, Colette's London shop has been taken over by the arch-villain German businessman Dieter Gluck. She has been driven out on the streets (literally). Former lover Lovejoy realizes he cannot fight Gluck alone, so he puts together a team motivated partly by high ideals and partly by the promise of filthy lucre. Like the myth of the British army, Lovejoy loses all battles except the final one.

In The Rich and the Profane Albansham Priory is in deep financial trouble. Lovejoy is invited by Prior George Metivier to suss out what is valuable. Lovejoy is easily seduced by a good cause. Murder and mayhem follow.

The mayhem in the books and Lovejoy's attempts to deal with impossible situations are but hooks on which to hang sheer comedy, comic observations, much practical advice on purchasing antiques and dealing with folk like you and me.

Like a glass of champagne as a tonic against depression and make sure you write down the quotations for future use.

Jonathan Gash started buying antiques as a student to pay his way through university.

Greensted, Richard

Raw Nerve

London, Headline. 246 pp. £17.99.

It was an unwritten rule at Datatrak that no one bothered to ask about anyone else's holiday. There were good reasons for it: no one cared, and no one had the time to tell or listen. Sales were everything. Small talk was an unwanted obstruction in the production of sales and revenue.

Sales director Michael Lensman loves his wife, his daughter and his job, though there is some uncertainty as to the order. They return from an idyllic summer vacation. First someone is promoted over him. Then he is made redundant.

The man he replaced commits suicide. Two people are shot dead.

Top people manipulate their underlings. Deception is practiced, sometimes just to assert power. Ambition is constantly thwarted. The computer nerd able to communicate only with the screen is a contemporary cliche, but here you have an office full of people communicating across the world and writing inter-office memos and sending them next door or upstairs by ersatz-mail, oops, sorry, e-mail, oblivious to everyone they work with. Wives are there to be cast in supportive roles only and are only noticed when marriages are threatened, by which time it might be too late, of course.

Not so much an entertaining mystery as a penetrating one. Next time a loved one cannot be unglued from the computer, drag them to a cafe. Even give them this book. Even make them read it.

Richard Greensted was lucky. The fourth boss who got rid of him told him he was unemployable. So he became a successful writer.