The novel “Mind of Stone” by Iain McLaughlin was published for the first time in 2016.
Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart has been remanded at Wormwood Scrubs Prison but the charges against him are a secret known only to very few people. While he waits to be officially charged, his main concern is to understand who among the prisoners could pose a danger to him.
None of Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart’s subordinates nor Anne Travers appear to have any idea what the charges are against him and his superiors provide no information. Their job must continue and concerns strange statues present in both a military installation and in an Egyptian museum. What’s the connection with a secret cargo carried by a military convoy commanded by Colonel Pemberton in 1968?
The Lethbridge-Stewart series tells the adventures of the character who became famous in the “Doctor Who” TV show when he works without the Doctor. The stories start from the period immediately following the debut of Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the TV show and then extend the period covered. These stories include some characters that appeared in the TV show, some invented for other productions connected to it, and others that were created specifically for these novels.
“Mind of Stone” has an unusual beginning for this series of books due to the situations presented. A military convoy has the task of transporting a mysterious cargo. The commander is Colonel Pemberton, a character mentioned in the classic serial “The Web of Fear” as a Yeti victim during the military operations on the London Underground. He’s assisted by Captain Knight, who appears in that serial.
The main strangeness at the beginning of this novel is that Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart is locked up in prison awaiting trial but the charges are kept so secret that not even his closest collaborators know about them. The protagonist himself avoids mentioning the charges, leaving everyone, including readers, wondering what’s behind all of that.
Honestly, the part of the story set in the prison is quite predictable in the way it’s developed even without knowing why the protagonist is locked up there. Some characters are inspired by the British sitcom “Porridge”, set in a prison but you have to know it to appreciate the references.
I found the second part of the novel more interesting, where the various pieces of the plot start having an increasing clarity between twists and revelations. The pace accelerates and action becomes prevalent in a situation where you can see what’s at stake. The developments surrounding the mysteries linked to the cargo transported in 1968 and Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart’s being remanded constitute in my opinion the strength of this novel.
As with most books in this series, the story is self-contained but contains some small bits that are part of a story arc. Leslie Johnston, a character who already appeared in a previous story, secretly conducts an independent investigation into the reasons for Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart’s imprisonment on behalf of a mysterious general whose identity is revealed at the end of this novel.
Overall, “Mind of Stone” offers a story that’s somewhat different from the ones readers of this book series are used to in which Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart is forced to fend for himself for a good portion of his adventure. There are some clichés linked to the part set in prison but in my opinion, the subsequent developments compensate for them, making it a read that fans of this character can enjoy.
