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About
Bored to Death in the Baltics is a comedy thriller, a sequel to A Very Important Teapot, set four months later. Saul Dawson and Lucy Smith, still working for a minor department of MI6, get caught up in the apparent assassination of a foreign scientist working on a top secret project. Meanwhile, a traitor is on the loose within the secret service.
It's murder, mayhem and mirth. Full of twists, puns and action, it's so brilliantly constructed that only the comedic genius of Steve Sheppard could be written it.
Estonian hydro-scientist, Viktor Nurmsalu, is apparently, assassinated by a bomb blast in Surrey. Nurmsalu has invented a new, cheap method of utilizing fast-flowing underground rivers to produce cheap electricity. However, he has written nothing down; everything is in his head. Although the United Kingdom, Estonia and Russia have already started a joint venture to develop Nurmsalu's process, the secret seems to have died with him. With Viktor dead and nothing written down, the scheme will collapse, leaving it in Chinese hands.
Dawson, following Victor Nurmsalu on the orders of his boss Arundel is, kidnapped and awakes on a cargo ship headed for the eastern Baltic, unaware that Viktor Nurmsalu is also, on board. In the Gulf of Riga, he is, helped to escape by Sofija Sesks, the captain's daughter. Pursued by Russians, they eventually wash ashore on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, where they are, captured by former Russian hitman Valentin Prokofiev, whom Dawson had shot and wounded four months earlier. Sofija pretends to be her "bad" twin sister Guna, Prokofiev's girlfriend.
Meanwhile Lucy is searching for Dawson with the help of Dawson and Lucy's Australian police friend, Elaine Bates, now in England on secondment to the Metropolitan Police. Lucy and Elaine are, sent to Latvia to find Dawson by MI6's Jason Underwood. Arundell and a murderous, policeman also, head to Estonia.
Lucy and Elaine reach Estonia but Lucy is, taken by Prokofiev's men. She escapes with the help of Elaine, shooting Chinese government agent, Songsung Rong, in the foot in the process. They succeed in joining up with Dawson and Sofija, who reveals herself to be, a lieutenant in the Estonian Internal Security Service, and they deliver Prokofiev to the embassy as instructed by Underwood. Prokofiev however gets free and heads for the secret underground installation in rural Estonia where a full-scale facility to develop Nurmsalu's process has been, constructed. This is now in the hands of the Chinese, aided by Prokofiev, who has been dismissed by Russian Intelligence, and is also, now in the pay of China.
At the embassy, Lucy and Elaine are, drugged but Dawson and Sofija escape. Dawson and Guna Sesks, the "bad" twin, reach the secret hydro-facility and meet up again with Sofija. Meanwhile, Lucy and Elaine get away from the embassy, however, they are then recaptured. In the melee, Wright is accidentally, killed by Rong. Prokofiev is inadvertently, killed by his own dog. Rong is, captured. Viktor Nurmsalu is, recovered alive, but international politics causes the whole, business to be, brushed under the carpet and Underwood is, forced to dismiss Dawson and Lucy from MI6.
It's murder, mayhem and mirth. Full of twists, puns and action, it's so brilliantly constructed that only the comedic genius of Steve Sheppard could be written it.
Estonian hydro-scientist, Viktor Nurmsalu, is apparently, assassinated by a bomb blast in Surrey. Nurmsalu has invented a new, cheap method of utilizing fast-flowing underground rivers to produce cheap electricity. However, he has written nothing down; everything is in his head. Although the United Kingdom, Estonia and Russia have already started a joint venture to develop Nurmsalu's process, the secret seems to have died with him. With Viktor dead and nothing written down, the scheme will collapse, leaving it in Chinese hands.
Dawson, following Victor Nurmsalu on the orders of his boss Arundel is, kidnapped and awakes on a cargo ship headed for the eastern Baltic, unaware that Viktor Nurmsalu is also, on board. In the Gulf of Riga, he is, helped to escape by Sofija Sesks, the captain's daughter. Pursued by Russians, they eventually wash ashore on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, where they are, captured by former Russian hitman Valentin Prokofiev, whom Dawson had shot and wounded four months earlier. Sofija pretends to be her "bad" twin sister Guna, Prokofiev's girlfriend.
Meanwhile Lucy is searching for Dawson with the help of Dawson and Lucy's Australian police friend, Elaine Bates, now in England on secondment to the Metropolitan Police. Lucy and Elaine are, sent to Latvia to find Dawson by MI6's Jason Underwood. Arundell and a murderous, policeman also, head to Estonia.
Lucy and Elaine reach Estonia but Lucy is, taken by Prokofiev's men. She escapes with the help of Elaine, shooting Chinese government agent, Songsung Rong, in the foot in the process. They succeed in joining up with Dawson and Sofija, who reveals herself to be, a lieutenant in the Estonian Internal Security Service, and they deliver Prokofiev to the embassy as instructed by Underwood. Prokofiev however gets free and heads for the secret underground installation in rural Estonia where a full-scale facility to develop Nurmsalu's process has been, constructed. This is now in the hands of the Chinese, aided by Prokofiev, who has been dismissed by Russian Intelligence, and is also, now in the pay of China.
At the embassy, Lucy and Elaine are, drugged but Dawson and Sofija escape. Dawson and Guna Sesks, the "bad" twin, reach the secret hydro-facility and meet up again with Sofija. Meanwhile, Lucy and Elaine get away from the embassy, however, they are then recaptured. In the melee, Wright is accidentally, killed by Rong. Prokofiev is inadvertently, killed by his own dog. Rong is, captured. Viktor Nurmsalu is, recovered alive, but international politics causes the whole, business to be, brushed under the carpet and Underwood is, forced to dismiss Dawson and Lucy from MI6.