A spare and enjoyable speculative trek through what might have become of Richard John Bingham, better known as “Lucky” Lucan, a British aristocrat on the lam since 1974 for murdering Sandra Rivett, the family nanny. According to news reports at the time, Lucan mistook Rivett for his wife, with whom he was locked in a bitter custody battle. Dame Spark’s economic prose should serve as an example to other authors (I’m talking to you, Marisha Pessl). Note of interest: Lucan was declared legally dead in 1999 and a death certificate was issued to his son in 2016. His widow speculated in 2017 that Lucan had made the “brave” decision to commit suicide.