A wealthy lady disappears and seven years later, pressure
is applied to have her declared dead so her fortune can be
distributed. There is no evidence of abduction or death,
and her wealth will be given to good causes. Her airline
company is offering half a million dollars for any news of
her whereabouts. One stubborn senior reporter is convinced
that Helena Carter chose to disappear, but he doesn't have
long to prove it....
FLIGHT DREAMS is written in present tense and introduces
Mark Manning of the Chicago Journal, who explains his
reasoning to a junior in between taking phone calls from
cranks and psychics. He organises a lunch meeting with a
lawyer for the Carter estate, then visits the remaining
family. Carter bred Abyssinian cats and was a noted
socialite - oddly, the morning she disappeared, her best
breeding pair of cats vanished too. The bulk of the estate
is going to the local Catholic Diocese, making another
trail for investigation. Meanwhile a reporter for a rival
paper has decided to stir up public interest by insisting
that this is an unsolved murder case and claiming police
incompetence.
Part of the story focuses on various aspects of the modern
Church and on those who would like to return to earlier
traditions. While the institution is treated with respect
we are aware of the potential for individuals to take a
less than ideal path. Another character is unsure of his
sexuality, having reached forty without finding a
girlfriend. Personality explorations lift this out of the
ordinary run of mysteries, and there is a visit to a
pedigree cat show. As a former exhibitor of household pet
cats, that was my choice of route to track down a missing
cat fancier, and I enjoyed the clues and twists in that
particular trail.
I was amused by the way that an unusually early lunch
business meeting is not too early for Scotch or vodka,
which would have no place in either lunch or business
meetings in Dublin. This adult mystery novel was
originally released in 1997 but has been re-released in e-
format, and there are a few others in the Mark Manning
mystery series. FLIGHT DREAMS by Michael Craft will not
suit every cosy crime reader but is a good study of
investigative procedures and human nature.
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