[Detective Masao Masuto is back again in E. V. Cunningham's "The Case of the Russian Diplomat"] and this book is every bit as good as its predecessor.

The case involves a dead man in the swimming pool of a posh Beverly Hills hotel…. Masuto, a Zen Buddhist and karate expert, a super-efficient cop, can be as tough as they come. Mr. Cunningham wastes no time with extraneous materials. He sticks close to the plot, builds up the action suspensefully and gleefully knocks down a clay pigeon in the form of a pompous F.B.I. man. This is a smart, exciting, rather original procedural.

Newgate Callendar, "Crime: 'The Case of the Russian Diplomat'," in The New York Times Book Review (© 1978 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), May 14, 1978, p. 34.