Spy Line is the sequel to Spy Hook. Bernard Samson is on the run from MI6 in East Berlin after asking unwelcome questions about a slush fund. Eventually they settle their dif­fer­ences and MI6 sends him on a mission to Vienna, where he learns that his wife Fiona, widely believed to be a traitor who had defected to the KGB, was in fact a double agent. Samson is world-weary but shocked to learn that the truth of his wife's supposed defection had been hidden from him by Fiona and by the handful …continue.

After the events of Valor of the Healer, the three pro­tag­o­nists went in different directions, but now they must come together again. Faanshi, the former slave girl, is coming into her own as an ex­tra­or­di­nar­i­ly powerful healer with her new people, the elves. Kestar, formerly a Hawk sworn to expunge elven magic, is a prisoner of the Hawks being taken to stand trial. Julian, his lost hand and burnt-out eye regrown by Faanshi's magic, is seeking vengeance against the brother who maimed him. Rumors of Faanshi's power and ac­com­plish­ments …continue.

Good old Bertie Wooster's got a spot of bother and so has his aged relative, Aunt Dahlia. A young lady authoress has grown tired of her tedious fiancé, one “Stilton” Cheesewright by name, and set her sights on our hero. Dash it all, she'd want to improve a chap's mind, when he'd rather take a cigarette for a walk and enjoy Jeeves' cocktails. And Cheesewright's a hulking brute threat­en­ing to break B.W.'s spine in five places. But Jeeves comes through in the end, saving Bertie and Aunt …continue.

Three years ago, in the events that preceded Spy Hook, Bernard Samson's wife Fiona defected from MI6 to the KGB. His position at MI6 barely survived. He's picked up the pieces and moved out to the suburbs with his much younger girlfriend, who's barely older than his children. Now he's in­ves­ti­gat­ing a slush fund that's gone missing and it seems that his questions are un­wel­come—­so unwelcome that by the end of the book, he's on the run in Berlin from the British.

I preferred this book to Winter, which served as a distant prequel …continue.

This book fails both as a Sherlock Holmes pastiche and as an adventure. The story is narrated by Watson, but the pro­tag­o­nist neither sounds nor acts much like Watson. Holmes is elsewhere for much of the book and he is very annoying when present. The plot is a pre­pos­ter­ous mashup of steampunk and occult magick.

As in The Sher­lock­ian, this author does not have the skill to write a convincing Holmes–Wat­son novel. I deducted another half star for the shoddy editing and the comma splices.

Fleeing from his botched attempt to as­sas­si­nate the Duke of Shalridan, Julian discovers the Duke's greatest secret: Faanshi, a half-elven slave girl with ex­tra­or­di­nary powers of healing. She heals his wounds in an instant and he makes his escape. Meanwhile, Kestar, a knight of the Order of the Hawk, who are sworn to extirpate elven magic, also discovers her existence. When Julian rescues her and Kestar is gravely wounded, she heals him too, forming a strong mental bond with him, which endangers them all.

This is a well-told high fantasy, with …continue.

In The Locked Room, Martin Beck, recovering from being shot, in­ves­ti­gates the death of a man, who has been found shot in a locked room with no gun. Meanwhile, some of his former colleagues, now serving on a special task force, are trying to deal with an epidemic of bank robberies. The latter is a comedy of errors, with the police con­sis­tent­ly messing up.

The authors are severely critical of the growth of Swedish police powers in the decade before this book was written. They also write harshly of …continue.

A student is found murdered on the grounds of Trinity College Dublin. Sergeant Matt Minogue, newly back on duty after serious injuries, in­ves­ti­gates and eventually finds links to the violence then roiling Northern Ireland.

A slow-moving but thoughtful police procedural. Minogue may be trau­ma­tized by earlier injuries, but he is not the cynical, hard-drinking policeman so typical of fiction, but rather a happily married father with a nose for the truth.

Six people arrange to meet in Venice for Carnival, masked and costumed as their true selves. Not knowing how the others are costumed, each makes very dif­fer­en­t—and wrong—as­sump­tions. Brian, husband of Sally and lover of Jean-Pierre, is found dead. Surely one of the group is the killer. An effete local, Count Michele Zanon, takes an interest in the affair.

A strange novel whose plot hinges on mis­com­mu­ni­ca­tion, mistaken identities, and incorrect as­sump­tions, as the seven pro­tag­o­nists rush around Venice, seeking or hiding from each other.

We received an un­so­licit­ed copy of this ridiculous book in the mail. It drones on and on about Satan and his plans, bashing both Catholics and Protes­tants. Apparently, ‘Sunday worship is “the mark of the beast!”’. Who knew? Who cares.

I assumed that it's from the Seventh Day Adventists, though I couldn't confirm that from skimming it. However, Catholic Answers confirms my guess.

Best avoided, especially on Sundays.