JAMES HADLEY CHASE

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          Ed Haddon, an expert art thief, approaches the notorious fence, Claude Kendrick of Paradise City, with a irresistible proposition: to find a buyer for the icon of Catherine the Great, which he proposes to steal from the Soviet art exhibition in the US.  Herman Radnitz, international wheeler-dealer,  is interested in buying the stolen icon from Kendrick - he wants to use it for bargaining with the Soviet Union to get a billion dollar contract and also to double-cross Kendrick, who had failed to deliver the goods once before. Radnitz wants the icon to be delivered to Zurich as part of the deal. At his wit's end,  Kendrick learns of a couple traveling to Europe; all he has to do is to make sure  that the stolen art object is  planted on them unawares -  for by this time, the US and  Soviet security  and intelligence agencies have swung into action. However, the couple are none other than Detective Tom Lepski of the Paradise police force and his feisty wife, Carroll. So things are bound to get exciting....