The Baltic Business is the first in the Ray Crawley by Australian author Peter Corris. This series is based on characters created by Peter Corris and Bill Garner for the ABC TV drama, Pokerface. Ray Crawley, a secret-service operative, working for the Federal Security Agency, attends a Nations in Chains lecture, where he encounters Latvian displaced persons, Dr Franz Gulbus and his beautiful daughter, Irina after a bomb scare closes the meeting. Meanwhile, Ray’s colleague, Graeme Huck is sent off on what seem to be wild goose chases. Very soon after he was sent to look into Nations in Chains, Ray is told to abort any investigation, which makes him all the more determined to follow up, especially as he wants to see more of Irina Gulbus. As he, and eventually, Huck, dig deeper, they find themselves in a web of intrigue and murder. Ray’s wife, Mandy, unwittingly provides him with some vital clues that her lover drops in conversation. Plenty of mystery, murder, alcohol, some hot sex, a bit humour and a plot with a great twist. Corris seems to be able to make Ray Crawley laconic and intense at the same time. I look forward to the next in the series: The Kimberley Killing. ( )