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What do you hope for when you pick up a mystery or thriller? A clever story built around believable conflict? Twists and turns in the plot, and surprises galore? Interesting but credible characters? A refreshing style of writing? Perhaps a dash of humor? You’ll find all that in The Singapore Wink by the late Ross Thomas, whose novels about espionage, politics, and corruption seem to display all that and more.

Not your run-of-the-mill used-car salesman

Enter Edward Cauthorne, known as Eddie. It’s late in the 1960s, and the U.S. is at war in Vietnam. Eddie, now 33 and a successful Hollywood stuntman, has left the industry and gone into partnership with a wealthy Englishman living in Los Angeles. Using the Englishman’s money, the two have opened a business to recondition and sell classic cars (“any car built prior to 1942”). Eddie is holding down the front office when a couple of thugs come in with no clear interest in cars. Instead, they want Eddie to find his long-time friend and fellow stuntman, Angelo Sacchetti. The catch is, Eddie is convinced that two years earlier he had killed Angelo when a stunt they were both involved in went horribly wrong. In Singapore. Thus opens The Singapore Wink. Shortly, the scene shifts from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, and then to Singapore, where the bulk of the action takes place.

An abundance of fascinating characters

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