Difference between revisions of "A Question of Trust"

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In order not to get in the way of Ali's burgeoning relationship with Patrice, Tom goes to stay with [[Jim Winscombe|his father]], who it turns out has just fallen victim to a cryptocurrency scam. Tom decides to try to sort this out and arranges to meet with [[Matt Blank]], a friend of a friend who is into crypto PR, who gives him a pass to the forthcoming launch of the [[Tulpencoin Inc|Tulpencoin]] Super Plus ICO. In the meantime, he goes to the library to use the computer to try to find out where Benjamin is, which turns out to be St Jude's Hospital. He is also alarmed to receive a series of opaque messages from the deceased [[Rufus Fairbanks]] via his ''LinkedIn'' account, but he puts this to one side and instead concocts a plan to get into St Jude's. Meanwhile, Ali has brought home [[Bertrand]], Patrice's ball python, to look after.
 
In order not to get in the way of Ali's burgeoning relationship with Patrice, Tom goes to stay with [[Jim Winscombe|his father]], who it turns out has just fallen victim to a cryptocurrency scam. Tom decides to try to sort this out and arranges to meet with [[Matt Blank]], a friend of a friend who is into crypto PR, who gives him a pass to the forthcoming launch of the [[Tulpencoin Inc|Tulpencoin]] Super Plus ICO. In the meantime, he goes to the library to use the computer to try to find out where Benjamin is, which turns out to be St Jude's Hospital. He is also alarmed to receive a series of opaque messages from the deceased [[Rufus Fairbanks]] via his ''LinkedIn'' account, but he puts this to one side and instead concocts a plan to get into St Jude's. Meanwhile, Ali has brought home [[Bertrand]], Patrice's ball python, to look after.
  
At St Jude's he meets [[Helen Matheson]], who is in the process of removing Benjamin. He helps her carry him out, but they come under attack. Matheson shoots their attacker and they escape in a taxi, although she then chloroforms him and dumps him in the middle of the Kent countryside. Following an unexpected encounter with a [[Puff Blossom|Shetland pony]] and [[Annabelle Wolley-Cummings|his owner]], Tom makes his way back to London in time for his afternoon computer slot at the library, where he receives some more cryptic emails from Fairbanks. He goes back home and is so tired, he manages to accidentally free Bertrand, who immediately disappears under the floorboards.  
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At St Jude's he meets [[Helen Matheson]], who is in the process of removing Benjamin. He helps her carry him out, but they come under attack. Matheson shoots their attacker and they escape in a taxi, although she then chloroforms him and dumps him in the middle of the Kent countryside. Following an unexpected encounter with a [[Puff Blossom|Shetland pony]] and [[Annabelle Woolley-Cummings|his owner]], Tom makes his way back to London in time for his afternoon computer slot at the library, where he receives some more cryptic emails from Fairbanks. He goes back home and is so tired, he manages to accidentally free Bertrand, who immediately disappears under the floorboards.  
  
 
The next day, Tom goes back to the library and receives another cryptic email and finally realises that whoever is behind the account is sending him a Fibonacci sequence. In the evening, he goes to the Tulpencoin launch at the [[Old Rococo Theatre]], where he hears [[Kevin Wilberts]] and [[Tiger de Montfort]] speak. He goes backstage and sees a mysterious stranger ordering the killing of Matt Blank in the presence of both Wilberts and de Montfort. He escapes after being chased through the backstage area by [[Gunther Scheisskopf|Gunther]] and [[Dirk]]. The Old Rococo Theatre burns to the ground that night.
 
The next day, Tom goes back to the library and receives another cryptic email and finally realises that whoever is behind the account is sending him a Fibonacci sequence. In the evening, he goes to the Tulpencoin launch at the [[Old Rococo Theatre]], where he hears [[Kevin Wilberts]] and [[Tiger de Montfort]] speak. He goes backstage and sees a mysterious stranger ordering the killing of Matt Blank in the presence of both Wilberts and de Montfort. He escapes after being chased through the backstage area by [[Gunther Scheisskopf|Gunther]] and [[Dirk]]. The Old Rococo Theatre burns to the ground that night.

Revision as of 16:42, 10 March 2021


A Question of Trust

A Question of Trust is a book by Jonathan Pinnock. It is the second in the Mathematical Mystery series and was published by Farrago Books in April 2019.

Blurb

A witty, fast-paced thriller with a dash of mathematics and a large dose of danger

Life is not going smoothly for Tom Winscombe. His girlfriend Dorothy has vanished, taking with her all the equipment and money of the company she ran with her friend Ali. Now Tom and Ali are forced to eke out an awkward shared bedsit existence while they try to work out what she is up to.

Meanwhile, Tom has other things on his mind, including how to untangle his father from a cryptocurrency scam, how to break into a hospital in order to interrogate an old acquaintance and what is the significance of the messages he’s been receiving from Rufus Fairbanks’s LinkedIn account.

Tom and Ali’s investigations lead them in a host of unexpected and frankly dangerous directions, involving a pet python, an offshore stag do and an improbable application of the Fibonacci sequence. But at the end of it all, will they find Dorothy – and will she ever be able to explain just exactly what is going on?

Critical Reception

The reception to the book was generally favourable. Professor Ian Stewart, author of Do Dice Play God? and the Science of Discworld books, summed it up as follows:

A dash of IT, a sprinkle of maths, an engaging and all-too-believable cast of anti-heroes, and a bonkers plot with all the precision and elegance of a Fibonacci spiral. Profane, irreverent, witty well-aimed, and fizzing with imagination.

Summary of Plot