Gavin Lyall · 1972 · thriller

Gavin Lyall's 1972 thriller. James Card is minding an insurance underwriter in northern France when the man is shot dead beside him, which finishes Card's reputation as a bodyguard. Refusing to accept that the job simply went wrong, he works back through the dead man's affairs from London into Norway, where the reason for the killing is sitting in a shipping file.

1. 1
   Arras

   On a quiet street in northern France, the man James Card is paid to protect is shot dead a yard from him - and Card, who did everything correctly and lost his client anyway, is finished in the only trade he knows.

2. 2
   London

   Back in London he works the dead man's business affairs rather than the shooting: the underwriting, the syndicates and the particular policies that somebody would prefer were not looked at too closely by anyone.

3. 3
   Bergen

   The thread runs north into Norway and the shipping trade, where a loss claimed and paid years ago turns out to be the reason a man was killed on a French pavement - and Card is not the only person following it.