LOCAL fans of the British writer Keith Miles will enjoy trying to unravel the mystery at the centre of his latest book - a tale of intrigue set at a fictitious golf resort in Bermuda.

The new mystery by Mr. Miles, Bermuda Grass, has just been published by Poisoned Pen Press based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The book is about a former golf-pro turned golf course designer, Alan Saxon. He comes to Bermuda to design a new golf resort called The Blue Dolphin. He decides to use the trip to get in some quality time with his teenage daughter, Lynette. Their holiday in Bermuda proves to be less than idyllic when Lynette brings her troubled friend Jessica along. Jessica monopolises Lynette's attention. Then the new golf course is sabotaged and Jessica and Lynette go missing.

At this point golf course designer cum amateur detective Alan Saxon goes into action to solve the dual mysteries.

"The book has been doing well," publisher Robert Rosenwald told the Mid-Ocean News last night. "Obviously, it is not a Stephen King novel in terms of sales, but we feel it has done well."

Mr. Rosenwald said he had been to Bermuda himself only once a long time ago.

"What attracted us to Bermuda Grass was the fact that Mr. Miles has written a series of golf mysteries featuring the Alan Saxon character," he said. "He had written this new book when we approached him because we were initially interested in reprinting his old ones."

The Keith Miles golf mystery books have now found a new audience with Poisoned Pen Press as the series' first publisher let the novels go after the fifth title in the series, Stone Dead, was published several years ago.

Mr. Rosenwald said that Mr. Miles is already writing a sequel to Bermuda Grass, although he did not know if it was also set in Bermuda.

"One of the things we liked about it was the golf angle," said Mr. Rosenwald, whose publishing house specialises in mystery and detective novels. "We are in Scottsdale and there is a great deal of golf in this area. We enjoyed the book."

Mr. Miles is a prolific writer who turns out books for several different mystery series per year including the historical Domesday series written under the pen name Edward Marston. He has written 37 other books including The Foxes of Warwick, The Nine Giants and The Mad Courtesan among others.

In a rave write-up of the new novel reviewer Andy Plonka said: "Keith Mile's strength in his novel Bermuda Grass is his ability to deceive or trick the reader. The basic plot is an attempt by a person to sabotage a golf course resulting in the ruin of a potentially money-making resort. However, the why, how and who parts of the equation are not that simple to figure out. Several candidates emerge with widely disparate motives.

"These individuals are seemingly stereotypical characters whose agendas are obvious. As the story unfolds they are portrayed as much more complex people, causing the reader to revalue his opinion of what makes these characters tick."

Mr. Miles said in an interview with January Magazine: "I began writing at high school where the highlight of the year was the Sixth Form Concert a mixture of comic sketches, songs and mime."

He said golf is a popular subject for his mystery novels because he loves the game.

"I play less golf now than I would like, but I do fit in an occassional stint on the golf range," he said. "At my peak, I managed to get below 80 on a regular basis, but would probably be nearer an 18-handicap now."