Following
on from his adventures in series opener The
Age of Treachery, Duncan Forrester has travelled
to Crete with Countess Sophie. His mission is to collect and
study the stone he found during the war while he was there
on another, very different mission; a stone which could decipher
the ancient Cretan language. But Duncan soon falls in with
old wartime companions and acquires several new missions,
including discovering the identity of a mysterious enemy and
finding a murderer.
Exciting doesn’t even begin to describe this page-turner;
a real adventure story penned by the author of TV series “The
Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.” If you enjoyed Indy’s
exploits, this is somewhat in the same vein, but with detecting
and some interesting history, both real and invented, thrown
in. Set in 1946, the recent war is casting some very long
shadows and Greece’s rejection of its monarch and possible
communist sympathies make a fascinating and unusual backdrop
to a thrilling, pacy story. Some people might call it a Boy’s
Own adventure, but although it is certainly in that style,
in some ways it is very much a modern novel with some strong
female characters and a sensible, contemporary answer to at
least one problem. Although more than one person in this clearly
got plenty out of their wartime adventures, the woes caused
by the war are also keenly felt. It is an upbeat book, but
one with plenty to ponder on as well. I will now have to wait
a whole year for the third volume. Very highly recommended
as one of the best historical mystery series currently around.
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