Burning Angel by Lawrence Osborne

These stories are penned by Lawrence Osborne, whom Metro describes as "The bastard child of Patricia Highsmith and Graham Greene". I am delighted when he publishes a new book because his stories are always dark and have a terrific sense of place.

There are nine stories in this collection which take the reader to Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, The Peak District, Oman, Mexico, The Andamans, Hawaii, Mongolia and New York City.

Burning Angel is the last story and the best has been left until last. A couple of rich Manhattanites take a young woman with hearing difficulties under their wing to act as maid and nursemaid to the baby that will be born shortly. The husband Edward is an architect and has built an incredible duplex on the 27th floor in the city that is inspired by Japan and the author makes it sound like a wonderful property. It's just a shame that the people who inhabit it are such grim, self-referring individuals. That, though, is typical of the author and he really doesn't usually choose charming characters to inhabit his stories, they all have quirks and motivations that bring the story to life.

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