Prime Suspect

Once A Spy (Review)

   

I just finished Once A Spy by Keith Thomson. The spy/thriller is the story of a 30 year old deadbeat gambling addict son who finds out that his Alzheimer-suffering father was one of the CIA's most legendary spies. When Drummond is targeted by a shadowy group in the CIA (are they the good guys? the bad guys? are they really CIA?) who wants him dead because they fear that he may blurt out secrets that would do untold damage, Charlie and Drummond go on the run.

Charlie nonchalantly takes this all in stride. After all, Charlie is already being hunted by the Russian Mafia for an unpaid gambling debt, so it's not much of a step to being targeted by professional assassins that aren't very good at their job if a civilian and a senior citizen with Alzheimer's can elude them quite easily. Even when something HUGE happens, Charlie sort of just shrugs it off.

As for Drummond, he goes in and out of lucid moments and it's hard to tell if he is faking his alzheimer's disease in order to fool the enemy.

The novel is darkly humorous. Thomson has fun playing with the conventions of the spy/thriller genre. But with the setup offered here, the story should have stayed within the land of the believable. Instead, we quickly go to the improbable with plot twists and gadgets straight out of the worst James Bond films (such as a Dr. Mengele-like torturer, the villain's secret island compound, underground secret laboratories, a sinister washing machine, and a nursing home for retired spies). 

The relationship between Chalie and Drummond is what holds the story together. It is bittersweet because as we see Charlie get closer and closer to his father, we also see Drummond retreating farther and farther into his disease. There's also a half-hearted attempt at a romantic storyline between Charlie and an NSA spy that doesn't really gel.

Overall, it was a fun story while I was reading it. But trying to mix a poignant father/son story against an improbable spy/thriller filled with mobsters, double agents, and complex fight scenes, just doesn't work.

Bowen, Rhys (Author)

 

Rhys Bowen is the nom de plume Janet Quin-Harkin uses when writing her mystery series. Her most current mystery, The Last Illusion, was just published this month. It is the 9th novel in the Molly Murphy Mysteries.

The multiple award winning author writes three mystery series: 

The Molly Murphy Mysteries feature an independent, forthright Irish immigrant in turn of the century (20th) New York. She starts her own detective agency, a bold move for a woman at that time. She soon finds herself trying to navigate her way through every level of New York society in search of murderers and other villains. Each novel focuses on on familiar themes of the era: the plight of immigrants, horrible sweatshops, fraudulent spiritualists, and woman's suffrage, to name a few. Molly has an on-again, off-again relationship with a high society police detective named Daniel Sullivan that adds a touch of romance to the mysteries.

1. Murphy's Law (2001)
2. Death of Riley (2002)
3. For the Love of Mike (2003)
4. In Like Flynn (2005)
5. Oh Danny Boy (2006)
6. In Dublin's Fair City (2007)
7. Tell Me Pretty Maiden (2008)
8. In a Gilded Cage (2009)
9. The Last Illusion (2010)

The Constable Evans Mysteries take place in modern day Wales. The village of Llanfair is as picturesque as a village one could hope for in mysteries. Filled with oddballs, family feuds lasting generations, jealousies approaching the boiling point, a kind-hearted constable, Evan Evans, to solve the mysteries and a pretty school teacher, Bronwen Price, to steal Evan's heart. The mysteries are short and funny while at the same time deal with modern societal problems like drug abuse and arranged marriages. After writing 10 books in this series, it is currently in hiatus according to Rhys's website.

1. Evans Above (1997)
2. Evan Help Us (1998)
3. Evanly Choirs (1999)
4. Evan & Elle (2000)
5. Evan Can Wait (2001)
6. Evans to Betsy (2002)
7. Evan Only Knows (2003)
8. Evan's Gate (2004)
9. Evan Blessed (2005)
10. Evanly Bodies (2006)

The Royal Spyness Mysteries is Rhys's newest series. It features Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie Rannoch, a distant cousin to King George V of England. The year is 1932 and Lady Georgie (as she's known to friends and family) finds herself in London, penniless and without servants! But she is no shrinking violet. Lady Georgie comes up with a crazy plan to make money: Clean and prepare London townhomes for the aristocracy when then come to town for the Season. Her escapades are quickly discovered by Her Majesty Queen Mary (of Teck) who asks Lady Georgie to use her proximity to these aristocrats to solve some minor mysteries and squash any scandal. The mysteries poke fun at the mystery conventions while adding derring-do and romance to mix.

1. Her Royal Spyness Solves Her First Case (2007)
2. A Royal Pain (2008)
3. Royal Flush (2009)

You can read more about Rhys Bowen and her series at www.rhysbowen.com .

Publishers:

• Minotaur Books, Macmillan, New York.
• Berkley, Penguin Group, New York.

Anderson, James (Author)

James Anderson (1936 - 2007) was a British author who wrote humorous mysteries in the best Golden Age tradition. He pokes fun at the conventions of the "whodunits" and house party mysteries with glee and true appreciation for the classic mystery novel.

These books that take place at Alderly, the country home of the Earl of Burford during the 1930s.

The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy introduces us to Alderly. Jane Clifton journeys to Alderly for a respite after losing yet another job in London. While at Alderly with a house full of guests, the inevitable happens: some poor sap gets himself murdered. Jane along with a Secret Agent Man named Deveraux help solve the case.

But the best part of this book is the put-upon detective, Wilkins. He is the funniest, silliest, most original detective that I’ve ever encountered. He hates being a detective. All he ever wanted was to rise to uniformed sergeant. But due to his innate abilities and a whole lot of luck, as he would put it, he’s been promoted over and over, much to his consternation. In the end, he solves the case much to everyone’s surprise.

In The Affair of the Mutilated Mink, Wilkins again has to solve a murder at Alderly. This time a foreign film actress is found dead. Wilkins is so excited that Scotland Yard has been called in so he doesn’t have to investigate the murder. But the ‘brilliant’ Scotland Yard detective with all his bravado and charm is so thoroughly wrong about the crime that Wilkins must once step into the breach to solve the case.

The 3rd book in the series is The Affair of the 39 Cufflinks. The Earl is iffy about inviting visitors to Alderly since the murders but the Countess tells him everything will be alright, no need to worry. After all, the visitors are all family coming for a funeral. What could go wrong? Well, when one of the guests says she knows where all the family secrets are buried and is just waiting for the right moment to dig them up, she ends up murdered. The list of suspects is long. So Wilkins with a heavy sigh begins the investigation with all the mad-capped frivolity that filled the previous 2 books.

If you’re thinking, “Oh no, not another country house murder mystery!” I beg you to reconsider and give these three a try. It will rekindle your love for the simplicity of an intricate puzzle that only an exceptional detective can solve.

      
  

Detective Wilkins Mysteries

1. The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy (1975)
2. The Affair of the Mutilated Mink (1981)
3. The Affair of the 39 Cufflinks (2003)

Publishers:

Poisoned Pen Press, Scottsdale.

Crispin, Edmund (Author)

Edmund Crispin was the nom de plume of the composer Robert Bruce Montgomery (10/2/1921-9/15/1978). As an organist and choirmaster at St John’s Oxford, Crispin used the university and the town as the setting for his mystery novels.

Crispin’s first mystery, The Case of the Gilded Fly introduces Oxford Don Gervase Fen. He’s a professor of English Language and Literature who would rather solve crime than write about literature. He’s eccentric, loves obscure references quoted at inappropriate times, and is quite good at the detecting thing.

The mystery revolves around a repertory theatre company. The nastiest and not very talented actress (and also the wealthiest of the bunch) is murdered and the list is long with suspects. It is an interesting, if a little unbelievable, locked room mystery. But the joy of the story with all its wit, its interesting characters and settings make the novel worth reading.

The Moving Toyshop (one of PD James’ Top 5 Fave Mysteries) is considered Crispin’s best. Again taking place in Oxford, it deals with a visiting poet Richard Cadogan stumbling over a dead body. But when Cadogan brings the police to the body, the entire toyshop has disappeared! Of course, it hasn’t really disappeared so Cadogan has to search for the toyshop with the help of his nutty professor friend (Fen, again). After uncovering a cunning scheme to defraud an heiress out of her fortune, Fen and Cadogan discover the murderer.

There are many more Gervase Fen Mysteries. Many of which have been lovingly reissued by Felony & Mayhem Press, New York.

   
 
Gervase Fen Mysteries

1. The Case of the Gilded Fly (1944)
2. Holy Disorders (1945)
3. The Moving Toyshop (1946)
4. Swan Song (1947)
5. Love Lies Bleeding (1948)
6. Buried for Pleasure (1948)
7. Frequent Hearses (1950)
8. The Long Divorce (1952)
9. Beware of the Trains (1953) (short story collection)
10. The Glimpses of the Moon (1977)
11. Fen Country (1979) (short story collection, published posthumously)

Publishers:

• Felony & Mayhem, New York. (Reissues in Trade Paperback)

Beaton, M.C. (Author)

Born in 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, Marion Chesney (better known as, M.C. Beaton to mystery fans) has written more books that many people have read in a lifetime. Her early years were spent mainly writing Romances under some of these nom de plumes: Sarah Chester, Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Marion Gibbons, Jennie Tremaine and Charlotte Ward.

Currently, she writes three mystery series. The Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth mysteries are under M.C. Beaton. The third series called the Edwardian Murder Mysteries are under her real name, Marion Chesney. This is due to the fact that this series combines romance, intrigue, espionage, and thrills along with mystery. Whereas the Agatha and Hamish books are straight mysteries.

Agatha Raisin is a middle aged spinster who made a bundle in her own public relations agency in London and retired to the Cotswold searching for romance but found only boredom. She starts solving mysteries and before she knows it, she’s running her own detective agency. But what she really wants, still, is to find a husband which she does and then promptly loses. Nothing ever seems to work out for Agatha Raisin but she keeps trying and we get to see the often hilarious results.

Hamish Macbeth is the constable of a tiny village on the North Coast of Scotland called Lochdubh (pronounced Lock-doo). He is tall and gangly with red hair and has weird animals but the village loves him and he loves the village. So he will do anything he can to maintain his current laidback lifestyle. Hamish even resorts to allowing others to take credit for his solving homicides on several occassions. He has an on again – off again relationship with the beautiful daughter of the local squire to keep him busy, too.

The Edwardian Murder Mysteries, as I said, combine romance with mystery along with spies and terrorists. The series features Captain Harry Cartwright and Lady Rose Summer. They are a reluctant pair that nonetheless work well together. And as the series progresses, so does their relationship. It is reminiscent of the “Tommy & Tuppence” books by Agatha Christie or even more closely to “Moonlighting,” or “Remington Steele.”

Agatha Raisin Mysteries

1. Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (1992)
2. Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet (1993)
3. Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener (1994)
4. Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley (1995)
5. Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage (1996)
6. Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist (1997)
7. Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death (1998)
8. Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (1999)
9. Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden (1999)
10. Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam (2000)
11. Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell (2001)
12. Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came (2002)
13. Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate (2003)
14. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House (2003)
15. Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance (2004)
16. Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon (2005)
17. Love, Lies and Liquor (2006)
18. Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye (2007)
19. Agatha Raisin and a Spoonful of Poison (2008)
20. There Goes the Bride (2009)

Hamish Macbeth Mysteries

1. Death of a Gossip (1985)
2. Death of a Cad (1986)
3. Death of an Outsider (1988)
4. Death of a Perfect Wife (1989)
5. Death of a Hussy (1991)
6. Death of a Snob (1992 )
7. Death of a Prankster (1992)
8. Death of a Glutton (1993)
9. Death of a Travelling Man (1993)
10. Death of a Charming Man (1994)
11. Death of a Nag (1995)
12. Death of a Macho Man (1996)
13. Death of a Dentist (1997)
14. Death of a Scriptwriter (1998)
15. Death of an Addict (1999)
16. A Highland Christmas (1999)
17. Death of a Dustman (2001)
18. Death of a Celebrity (2002)
19. Death of a Village (2003)
20. Death of a Poison Pen (2004)
21. Death of a Bore (2005)
22. Death of a Dreamer (2006)
23. Death of a Maid (2007)
24. Death of a Gentle Lady (2008)
25. Death of a Witch (2009)
26. Death of a Valentine (2010)

Edwardian Murder Mysteries

1. Snobbery with Violence (2003)
2. Hasty Death (2004)
3. Sick of Shadows (2005)
4. Our Lady of Pain (2006)