A sleek, urbane spy novel steeped in the atmosphere of pre-war Budapest.
A British secret agent in pre–World War II Budapest investigates the murder of a colleague in Turner’s novel.
Harry Douglas is an agent of the British Foreign Service who’s been dispatched to Budapest to uncover information about the death of fellow agent Tennyson Neale. Neale was found stabbed and hanging near a bridge in a crime scene indicating local power players thought he knew too much (“Might as well have had a sign around his neck”). The year is 1938 and there are fears that Hitler is going to invade and wipe Czechoslovakia off the map; in Hungary, anti-Jewish laws have been passed, the socialist and fascist Arrow Cross party is fighting to gain power, and Hungary’s leader, Regent Miklós Horthy, supports the Nazi annexation of Austria to keep the Germans at bay. As for Douglas, he considered Neale to be a friend, and he and his partner, Mick MacLeod, carefully investigate his murder while posing as employees of a magazine. Neale was in possession of politically sensitive photos and memoranda; as Douglas and MacLeod piece together the specifics, the Hungarian secret police discover their true identities. Enter Magda Nagy, a beautiful and sophisticated actress, who becomes integral to their plan to get intelligence to London (Magda, who has Jewish ancestry, also needs to save herself). A cornucopia of information about Hungarian and European politics of the day is woven into the novel’s plot, and the happenings in Europe are so complicated that they can overshadow the relatively straightforward nature of this novel’s mystery. Still, Turner’s meticulously researched tale has all of the elements for a compelling spy novel: murmurs of war, dashing spies, late-night poker games, and sly but virtuous women with an air of mystery. Budapest works well as the staging ground for the novel, as the characters savor their fruit brandy and thermal baths while knowing that all around them, rights and freedoms (and even neighbors) are disappearing.
A sleek, urbane spy novel steeped in the atmosphere of pre-war Budapest.Pub Date: May 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780984723270
Page Count: 266
Publisher: Harry Douglas Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.
A 16-year-old savant uses his Groundhog Day gift to solve his grandfather’s murder.
Nishizawa’s compulsively readable puzzle opens with the discovery of the victim, patriarch Reijiro Fuchigami, sprawled on a futon in the attic of his elegant mansion, where his family has gathered for a consequential announcement about his estate. The weapon seems to be a copper vase lying nearby. Given this setup, the novel might have proceeded as a traditional whodunit but for two delightful features. The first is the ebullient narration of Fuchigami’s youngest grandson, Hisataro, thrust into the role of an investigator with more dedication than finesse. The second is Nishizawa’s clever premise: The 16-year-old Hisataro has lived ever since birth with a condition that occasionally has him falling into a time loop that he calls "the Trap," replaying the same 24 hours of his life exactly nine times before moving on. And, of course, the murder takes place on the first day of one of these loops. Can he solve the murder before the cycle is played out? His initial strategies—never leaving his grandfather’s side, focusing on specific suspects, hiding in order to observe them all—fall frustratingly short. Hisataro’s comical anxiety rises with every failed attempt to identify the culprit. It’s only when he steps back and examines all the evidence that he discovers the solution. First published in 1995, this is the first of Nishizawa’s novels to be translated into English. As for Hisataro, he ultimately concludes that his condition is not a burden but a gift: “Time’s spiral never ends.”
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781805335436
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A rather flat entry in a generally excellent series.
The 25th novel featuring Silva’s legendary protagonist.
During his intersecting careers as art restorer and Israeli spy, Gabriel Allon has tangled with Russian gangsters and al-Qaida terrorists. He has become well-acquainted with operatives in multiple security agencies and befriended a paid assassin. He has busted art thieves and created passable forgeries by Renaissance masters and abstract Modernists. This latest installment centers around his relationship with the pope and a newly discovered painting by Leonardo da Vinci that has gone missing from the Vatican. Silva’s novels tend to fall into two categories: books that reflect the politics of the day and books that don’t. His latest is one of the latter, which could be a treat for readers looking for escape, but it falls flat for a variety of reasons. Luxury has always been part of Gabriel Allon’s universe. It used to be an aspect of tradecraft, though. Allon would be wearing a very expensive suit and driving a very expensive car because he was posing as a client at a Swiss bank. Here, his wife is hosting a catered lunch for 150 of their daughter’s classmates in their apartment overlooking the Grand Canal in Venice. What once felt like a scintillating peek into the world of the obscenely wealthy now just feels…kind of obscene. Similarly, Allon goes chasing after a missing painting as a civilian—he retired from Mossad in Portrait of an Unknown Woman (2022)—the same way another man his age might buy a speedboat or get hair plugs. As the story progresses, the stakes are raised, but it’s hard to forget that Allon is now a middle-aged man pursuing a dangerous hobby, rather than a spymaster leading his intrepid team to prevent a disaster that will disrupt the global order.
A rather flat entry in a generally excellent series.Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9780063384217
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
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