NIGHTSHADE

by Reg Gadney ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 18, 1988

Perfidious Albion. Bodies drop when the word starts to get out that British intelligence may have hastened American entry into WW II. (Gadney also wrote the nonfiction Kennedy, 1983, and Cry Hungary!, 1986.) A handful of upper-level British spies and their spouses gather in Madrid for the funeral of one of their number--a retired agent named Richard Wigart, who seems to have died as the result of a simple mugging. Not so. Wigart was done in because he knew rather too much about some very shabby British behavior--which had to do with knowing about the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor and failing to tip off the Yanks. Bitter allusions to the incident by another of the old spies send second-generation agent John Mahon from the loving arms of Kirsty (Mrs. Henry) Newiston, back to the files in London to find out just how and why his father died in Madrid all those years ago. Since Mahan and Kirsty's husband are in harness together, Kirsty recruits a reluctant American friend to assist in a complicated cover-up of the affair, an involvement that gets even stickier than the American's worst fears when first Mahon and then Kirsty turn up missing--and when the incriminating documents from WW II land in the American's lap. Fortunately, she is married to a very clever and very persistent retired agent of the FBI, who sets aside his lovely rare-book business and starts his own investigation into the sordid affairs. Awfully tough on the Brits but still fun. Le CarrÉ without the hard parts.

Pub Date: Oct. 18, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION