THE OXFORD GAMBIT

by Joseph Hone ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1980

The third and weakest spy entanglement for Peter Marlow--the teacher who was variously framed, set up, and betrayed by British Intelligence in The Private Sector and The Sixth Directorate. And now Marlow is put upon once again, dragged out of bucolic Oxfordshire solitude to join the hunt for mysteriously-disappeared Lindsay Phillips, a beekeeping retired diplomat (expert on Yugoslavia) who may or may not have been abducted by the KGB. Was Phillips a British agent. . . or a KGB agent. . . or a rightwing conspirator. . . or all of the above? Marlow gets different stories from everyone (including the Prime Minister and the slimy Intelligence chief); further contradictions surface as he begins to investigate Phillips' leftist past with help from Mrs. P. and musician daughter Rachel (Marlow's beloved of 20 years ago); and, while ducking murder attempts (a nicely Buchanesque train-ride attack) and following suspicious types, Marlow also gets back into tetchy Rachel's affections (her over-attachment to papa is a major area of tension). Then: word arrives that Phillips has been abducted by the ""Free Croatia"" gang--so Marlow and the two women set off for Europe (their reasoning is rather murky) to search for Phillips in Brussels, Vienna, and Yugoslavia. Along the way, there's a murder or two, apparent sabotage by British Intelligence, plus revelations about Phillips' long-ago visit to Europe with his first wife (who supposedly committed suicide). And this elaborate wild goose chase culminates in still further discoveries and a final snippet of peril in the Yugoslavian hills. But generally there's far more talk than action here--as Hone stretches out a decent, if derivative, central puzzle with contorted red herrings, psychological stewing, and droning speculations on Phillips' real 1930s political sympathies. So, despite some genuinely evocative moments and the fairly stylish prose: slow going, with much portentousness but little bona fide Le CarrÉ-style resonance.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION