Flight from Berlin
By David John (HarperCollins)
The further we get away from the World War II era the more writers and readers seem fascinated by the period. John’s debut novel already shows a mastery of the difficult thriller-cum-detection form as his somewhat spoiled American heroine joins forces with a foreign correspondent as they tangle with the Gestapo and British spies at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Gold medal-winning swimmer Eleanor Emerson manages to fall out of grace with Olympic kingpin Avery Brundage (who gets a well-deserved, less-than-flattering treatment) and is booted off the U.S. team before the ship even reaches Germany. Fortunately, she gets a job covering the Olympics from William Randolph Hearst. Think of her as a spunkier Claudette Colbert from ” .” Her Gable is British journalist Richard Denham, a man determined to show the evil Hitler is attempting to mask with the games.
Throw in a missing dossier with a secret that could topple the Reich along with a host of real life characters making cameo appearances and it all adds up to a exciting ride that climaxes with an escape via the Hindenburg Zeppelin. We all know how that trip will end but it only adds to the sense of impending doom.
The Namesake
By Conor Fitzgerald (Bloomsbury)
What is it about Italy that attracts so many non-Italians to set mystery novels there? From Donna Leon to David Hewson it’s been fertile territory for crime writers. Entering into the fray with his third Commissario Alec Blume novel in as many years is this Irish expatriate and current Rome resident. The Seattle-born Blume has made his home in Rome for 22 years but remains an outsider to most of his colleagues, a situation that has as many advantages as disadvantages.
The mafia, or , is out to set an example by murdering one Mantteo Arconti But what possible good could come from killing a very ordianry Milan insurance man? Was the real target a court magistrate with the same name known for his ardent prosecution of mafia? Blume thinks this error just might present him with a chance to lure the mafia bosses from their hiding places in Germany.
Given his close relationship to the magistrate, Blume turns the case over to his partner and not-so-secret live-in lover, Catterina Mattilola, virtually his only truly supportive connection to his adopted home. By making his hero a naturalized Italian, Fitzgerald allows us to observe the inner workings of Italian police procedure from a unique and captivating perspective.
Cop to Corpse
By Peter Lovesey (Soho)
Future generations will no doubt hold Lovesey is as high esteem as the current one holds a Dorothy L. Sayers or a Naigo Marsh. Since 1970 he has produced a body of work of unsurpassed quality, with nary a dud in the lot. His12th book featuring Bath’s Chief Superintendent Peter Diamond just adds one more jewel to his crown as the reigning master of the form.
A sniper is picking off coppers in Bath, killing three in the past 12 weeks. After interviewing the dead officers’ wives, Diamond sees how the three were connected and is forced to accept the idea that a fellow cop might be the killer, an idea that does not sit well with his colleagues. Diamond isn’t happy about the situation as well but this painfully humane, if sometimes out of sorts, cop knows justice demands he does his duty.
