The Ivory Dagger

The country house murder was for decades the mainstay of British crime fiction and amongst it's best practitioners was Patricia Wentworth. The Ivory Dagger, published and set in the early nineteen fifties is a good example of the final years of this popular genre. The story begins with the efforts of Lady Sybil Dryden to force her step daughter Lila into a marriage with the wealthy Sir Herbert Whitall who is well known for his large collection of valuable ivories and his even larger collection of enemies. Lila, who is far from being the sharpest knife in the box, is incapable of standing up to Lady Dryden despite the encouragement of her cousin Ray Fortescue. The return from America of Bill Waring, who was under the impression that he was engaged to Lila, prompts Lady Dryden to move her to Sir Herberts country house and bring the wedding forward. However, following a small dinner party Sir Herbert is found stabbed to death with the ivory dagger of the title. Enter Miss Silver who takes a far more prominent part in this story than in any of the other Wentworths I have read. Also called in is Inspector Frank Abbott of Scotland Yard, a regular partner for Miss Silver. This is just the book to put ones feet up with a glass of something and forget about the economy for a few hours.

The Horse Coin

David Wishart is the author of the marvellous Marcus Corvinus detective stories but in The Horse Coin Rome's answer to Lord Peter Wimsey does not appear. This story is set in the newly conquered province of Britain and deals with the Iceni revolt lead by the charismatic Queen Boudica. The trouble starts with the death of Prasutagus King of the Iceni. He has made a will making the Emperor Nero co-heir to his property hoping that this will guarantee the status of his two young daughters as heirs in their own right. Knowing that Nero was always short of money Catus, the Provincial Procurator, sends one of his deputies, Homullus, to squeeze every sesterce out of the Iceni. At this time the Provincial Governor, Paullinus, decides to subdue the tribes to the north west of the province and takes the bulk of his forces on a prolonged campaign into Snowdonia and on to the Isle of Mona (Anglesey) which is the main base of the Druid religion in Britain. Usually the Romans were perpared to tolerate the religious practices of any people that they conquered and often adopted foreign gods into their own Pantheon. Such gods as the Egyptian Isis and the Persian Mithras gained large followings among the Romans themselves. During the conquest of Gaul the Romans encountered the Druids and decided that this was one sect whose practices the Empire could well do without. Druidism was outlawed and any Druid priests that were captured were executed as were anyone found sheltering them. On the Continent Druidism was virtualy extinct and it was in order to wipe out it's last stronghold on Mona as much as to secure the provincial borders that Paullinus launched his campaign. It was at this point that Homullus, who had encountered some obstruction from Queen Boudica, decided to get tough and precipitated the revolt which destroyed Colchester and London and resulted in around one hundred and fifty thousand deaths before it was all over. The enduring popularity of stories about the Romans can be seen in any bookshop or library and the story of the Iceni revolt has been tackled by some of the best historical novelists. Until now I would have put "Imperial Govenor" by the late George Shipway as the best novelisation of this grim chapter in our island's history but in The Horse Coin David Wishart has written a book that is at least it's equal or arguably better. I believe that I have read all of the books by David Wishart but to me this is his best.

Devil May Care

Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks was specialy commisioned by the owner of the late Ian Fleming's literary estate to commemorate his birth on 28th May 1908. The idea was to ignore the plethora of film versions and return to the time of the Cold War in which Fleming set his original novels. Furthermore Faulks was supposed to copy the writing style of Fleming and was no doubt entrusted with this task because of the high regard in which he is held in literary circles. Whether he did manage to copy Fleming's style I could not say as it has been many years since I read one of his books. However, there is a world of difference between the novels for which Faulks is justly famous and the kind of action adventure story with which Fleming thrilled the nation's readers. Faulks includes all the usual ingrediants, a villain with unusual physical characteristics, a murderous assistant, a plot of world-ranging scope and an organisation exploiting cutting edge technology. To counter this Bond has a Walther PPK, a handful of local agents and a beautiful girl. So far so good. Unfortunately in Faulks hands it does not quite work. Perhaps it was Fleming's background of genuine intelligence work that gave him the edge over someone who only has his imagination to go on but I just did not get the kick out of Devil May Care that I did out of Fleming's books. That being said I still read it through to the end which I would not have done had it been truly disappointing. A good try.

Folly du Jour

Folly du Jour is the last of the Commander Joe Sandilands novels by Barbara Cleverly before she decided to commence a new series featuring an archeologist. I am sure that all her readers can appreciate her desire to try something new after writing seven of her superior Sandilands detective stories but I am also sure that they hope that she will return to chronicling his career in the near future. In Folly du Jour Sandilands flies to Paris to attend an Interpol conference when he is caught up in a spectacular murder commited in a box at the Follies Bergere. The victim is an English Baronet and former officer in the Indian Army and the accused is his old friend and mentor from his time in India, Sir George Jardine. Initialy reluctant to become involved Sandilands is shocked to see Sir George has been roughly handled by the French detective in charge of the case and annoyed when his efforts to help Sir George are frustrated by his reluctance to give Joe the full story of what happened. This is just the start of a well wrought narrative, lubricated by a boxful of red herrings, that kept this reader guessing until the end. Miss Cleverly conveys a wonderful sense of Paris in the 1920's and even introducing famous characters such as Charles Lindbergh and Josephine Baker is accomplished smoothly. It is not often that a writer can resist flourishing the amount of background research that Miss Clverly has obviously done and allow it to flow as a natural part of the narrative but manage it she does. Another good 'un.

The Knights of the Black and White

The Knights of the Black and White is the first volume of a trilogy on the history of the Knights Templar. In this first volume the author, Jack Whyte, poses some very interesting propositions such as that the mediaeval aristocracy of Southern France was descended from Jewish refugees from the destruction of Jerusalem by General, later Emporer, Titus in AD70. The people settled in Gaul and converted to Christianity under Emporer Constantine. Known to one another as the Friendly Famillies they keep alive their heritage by means of a secret Order that sounds something like the Masons. Every generation the senior members of the Order choose one young knight from each familly to be inducted and the Order is so secret that even other members of their familly do not know of it's existance. Not even the females! Well, it is a novel. Members of the Order are taught a very different story of the life of Jesus Christ than that which is preached by the Church and they accuse St. Paul of re-writing Christ's history and message for his own ends. When the Pope calls for a war against the Turks to free the Holy City of Jerusalem the Order sends some of it's knights along in the hope of recovering an ancient treasure, which may or may not consist of valuable objects, which was hidden by the priests beneath the Temple of Herod before it was destroyed. Mr Whyte goes into the alternative history of the founding of Christianity in some detail but whether this comes from his research or his immagination I do not have the knowledge to judge but what I can say is that he tells a most entertaining story and I look forward eagerly to the second volume.

The Minutes of the Lazarus Club

The Minutes of the Lazarus Club is the first novel by Tony Pollard and a very impressive debut it is as he skillfully blends a police search for a serial killer with a plot to supply secret weapons. This all takes place against the background of the Victorian Golden Age of invention and inovation. The iconic engineer I.K. Brunel completing work on the Great Eastern, the biggest ship in the history of the world at that time, finds time to attend the anatomy lectures of Dr George Phillips at St Thomas hospital and invites him to attend a meeting of his secretive club. There Phillips meets Charles Darwin, Joseph Bazalgette the engineer responsible for London's sewage system, Charles Babbage maker of the world's first mechanical computer and many other leading figures of Victorian industry. Their stated aim is the advancement of science but soon Phillips is aware that some have more sinister motives. Dr Pollard has written an excellent novel by turns intellectual puzzle and action adventure all on a secure basis of historical research. This is a first class piece of entertainment.

Empire of Sand

When I was a boy I was given a book of real life adventure stories, a popular present for young boys at the time. On the front cover was a picture of a handsome man dressed in white robes. He was riding a camel and, revolver in hand, was leading a charge against some rather nondescript infantry. None of the other illustrations in the book came close to matching the thrilling romanticism of that wonderful image and from that moment Lawrence of Arabia became my hero. Since that time I have read many books and articles about Lawrence, a far more complex character that any writer would dare to invent. In his excellent novel Empire of Sand Robert Ryan comes closer to revealing the different aspects of a man at once scholar, dreamer and man of action than most writers have achieved. As the novel opens Lawrence is confined to the map room at Intelligence HQ in Cairo, his superiors wary of his eccentricities although impressed by his understanding of the Arabs and their land. In 1915 an undercover war is raging across the Arabian lands of the tottering Ottoman Empire with agents of the British and the Germans seeking to use the desert tribes as guerrila forces. The most successful German agent is Wilhelm Wassmuss, known by the Arabs as Woss Moss, who has secured an alliance with the Tangistani bedu by supplying them with modern German rifles and other war material. His success has come to the notice of the War Office in London and they despatch Captain Harold Quinn, a man versed in the arts of undercover warfare, to kill him. Quinn and Lawrence assemble a small group to cross the Persian desert and attack Wassmuss at the fort of his Tangistani allies and locks these two outstanding agents in a thrilling battle of bullets and wits. Whilst based on real characters and incidents Ryan's story is entirely fictional but he uses this to illuminate the facets of an amazing character who, for four years, blazed across the Middle East like a comet. If Lawrences life ended in tragedy this was as much due to the betrayals of his political masters as to his inner turmoil. Robert Ryan has written a first class novel that is both entertaining and informative.

Silent in the Grave

It is well known that European aristocracy holds a fascination for Americans, unfortunately very few of them show any real appreciation of their hierarchy, attitudes and lifestyle. At last, in Texan writer Deanna Raybourn's Silent in the Grave we have someone who has taken the trouble to do sufficient background research to produce not only a good page turning mystery but one which reads as though it were written by an Englishwoman. I can give no higher praise. (Patronising Bastard!) The novel begins with the death of Sir Edward Grey, a well known figure in London Society in the penultimate decade of the nineteenth century. Sir Edward comes from a familly with a history of illness and the familly doctor promptly issues a death certificate stating natural causes. However, his widow Lady Julia, receives a visit from Nicholas Brisbane who her late husband had commissioned to investigate a series of threatening letters that had been sent to him. Brisbane suggests that Sir Edward's death may be suspicious. Lady Julia is outraged and dismisses Brisbane but later she is forced to realise that her husband had a life of which she knew nothing and which could indeed have lead to his murder. Determined to find the truth however painful she visits Brisbane and engages him to undertake an investigation though by now the trail is cold. Their search for answers is difficult and dangerous and brings them face to face with unpleasant truths about her late husband and the Grey familly that are difficult for her to accept. Nonetheless Lady Julia presses on to a dramatic and surprising conclusion to this excellently told story. Silent in the Grave is Miss Raybourn's first novel and I look forward eagerly to her next though I must warn her that here she has set a standard that it will not be easy to maintain.