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Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Lawton, J. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
The latest novel from the master spy novelist John Lawton follows Inspector Troy, now Scotland Yard's chief detective, deep into a scandal reminiscent of the infamous Profumo affair. England in 1963 is a country set to explode. The old guard, shocked by the habits of the war baby youth -- sex, drugs, and rock and roll -- sets out to fight back. The battle moves uncomfortably close to Chief Inspector Troy. While Troy is on medical leave for a nasty case of tuberculosis, the Yard brings charges against an acquaintance of his, a hedonistic doctor with a penchant for voyeurism and uninhibited young women. Two of these women just happen to be sleeping with a senior man at the Foreign Office and a KGB agent. But on the eve of the verdict a curious double case of suicide drags Troy back into active duty. Beyond bedroom acrobatics, the secret affairs now stretch to double-crosses and backroom deals in the halls of Parliament, not to mention murder. It's all Troy can do, fighting off some bad habits of his own, to stay afloat in a country immersed in drugs and up to its neck in scandal.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
London in the swinging '60s provides the setting for this latest in Lawton's series featuring Scotland Yard lawman Frederick Troy. Troy finds himself a reluctant attendee at several country weekends where a flashy acquaintance, Dr. Patrick Fitzpatrick, holds sybaritic court. The aristocratic Troy has been, equally reluctantly, attempting to acclimate himself to the wide-open atmosphere of the new England, a country in the grip of a seismic social and sexual upheaval. Fitz and several government cronies have been shagging a pair of beautiful twins, the Ffitch sisters, and the equally lovely but underage Clover Browne. When Fitz is arrested for "immoral earnings and procurement," Troy escapes the media spotlight, confined to a sanatorium with a nasty case of tuberculosis. Troy rallies to investigate after several participants in the Fitz scandal are found dead. The whodunit phase takes several hundred pages to ignite, but Lawton is such an entertaining, literate storyteller it doesn't really matter. Once the now frail Troy steps in, neither threats, beatings, near-drowning nor shooting can frighten him off the case. New readers who fall under the considerable spell of the indefatigable Troy can seek out earlier adventures, Black Out, Old Flames, Riptide, Flesh Wounds and Bluffing Mr. Churchill. Agent, Claire Alexander. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Turmoil and a scandalous trial rock the British Foreign Office, evoking both the Cambridge spies and the notorious Christine Keeler. By 1963, Lawton's hapless hero Frederick Troy (Bluffing Mr. Churchill, 2004, etc.) has risen to the post of Scotland Yard's Chief Detective. When Troy sends a message to his lifelong friend Charlie Leigh-Hunt, who worked with him in the secret service during WWII, he's disturbed to learn that Charlie's vanished. Not coincidentally, Charlie's sought for the ancient murder of Norman Cobb. Troy traces Charlie to Russia, an uncomfortable trip. (Troy's father, suspected of spying for the Russians, was born there.) He finds that alcoholic Charlie has hooked up with Guy Burgess. Troy and Charlie tiptoe around their shared secret--it was Troy, not Charlie, who killed Cobb--and say goodbye, Troy promising to visit Charlie's elderly mother in England. Back home, Troy's ex, Anna, a doctor, rekindles their affair and introduces him to Patrick "Fitz" Fitzgerald, the senior partner in her medical practice. A weekend getaway at Fitz's country home turns into a sexual roundelay in which very young women frolic with some of Troy's middle-aged male acquaintances. Anna expresses concerns over Troy's health; indeed, it turns out, he has tuberculosis and is sent to The Glebe, a Dedham sanatorium, where he gets the distressing news of Fitz's arrest and a sensational scandal brewing. Fitz stands accused of running a brothel with underage women who service distinguished politicians, a charge with enough half-truths to trigger headlines. The ensuing trial, which Troy attends, is the novel's centerpiece. He frequently compares notes with no less a personage than Dame Rebecca West and shelters one of Fitz's girls, a teenaged waif named Clover. Lawton's shaggy plot reflects all the turmoil and moral ambiguity of the times, and he writes like a house afire. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Originally published in 1998 but now appearing for the first time in the U.S., Lawton's follow-up to Black Out0 (1995) 0 and Old Flames0 (2002) weaves the Profumo Affair and the Kim Philby spy scandal into a stylish novel of intrigue and manners spanning the corridors of power and the back alleys of vice, circa 1963. A brief foray into London nightlife, swinging-sixties style, sidelines Scotland Yard Inspector Troy with a wasting disease until the plight of a playboy doctor and a suspicious suicide pact drag Troy back into the game. While some details of British history may be lost on American readers, there are ample conspiracies and red herrings to satisfy fans of the erudite thrillers of Robert Wilson, Charles McCarry, and John le Carre. The pleasure of Lawton's ambling period piece resides at least as much in the detailed texture of life and society and in the urbane repartee (the aristocratic Troy even holds his own in a discussion with Dame Rebecca West on the illusory nature of sexual liberation) as it does in the complexities of a soundly sprung plot. Recommended for most libraries. --David Wright Copyright 2005 Booklist
Library Journal Review
It's the early 1960s, a time in Britain of sexual scandals at the highest levels of government (e.g., the Profumo affair), Cold War defectors (e.g., John Burgess), and a general fear that society is coming apart. Series Scotland Yard Commander Frederick Troy (Bluffing Mr. Churchill) is on sick leave with tuberculosis but persists in trying to unravel the murders of a prominent physician and a politician's underage paramour, who turns out to be the granddaughter of a cop; plus the apparent defection of an old friend. Spy novelist Lawton uses the milieu and ambiance of a time of social and ethical turmoil to write a graceful story that is peopled with historical and fictional characters and features. Antispooks and pols only hint at the complex plot, interesting characters, and literary and historical allusions that make up this mystery/thriller. First published in Britain in 1998, this book makes a strangely delayed appearance here but certainly deserves a wide audience. Highly recommended. Lawton lives in England and Manhattan.--Roland Person, formerly with Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.