I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Redhead
by
John Creasey
action & adventure, spy thriller, vintage mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Ipso Books on September 15, 2015 and has 230 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include The Unbegotten, The Toff Goes On, Gideon and the Young Toughs and Other Stories, Introducing the Toff, The Peril Ahead, The Death Miser, Carriers of Death, First Came a Murder, Death Round the Corner, Death by Night, Sabotage, A Kind of Prisoner, The Mark of the Crescent
Second in the Department Z vintage spy thriller series and revolving around the men and leader of British Intelligence in the 1930s. The focus is on Martin Storm and Roger Grimm — and Letty Granville. Redhead was originally published in 1933.
My Take
I have a bone to pick with Creasey. I had the impression that Storm and Grimm were NOT associated with Department Z. When it came to the other men who helped them out, they may have been agents but I did not understand why they weren’t acting in cahoots with Department Z. What the hell?
It’s an odd start, part way through Storm’s and Grimm’s experience aboard ship, we get thrown back in time, and Creasey explains why the men are traveling in third class. It is a good tale and too sad that the gangster problem is that bad! The fears of Sergeant O’Halloran and Warren were scary!
Further incitement comes with Ginger grandstanding aboard ship and upsetting the Granvilles. Of course, the situation was sparked by a journalist who put words in their mouths. Shocking . . .! I suspect Storm and Grimm would have said it anyway.
What was the deal with the government weighing in and threatening Storm and Grimm with incarceration if they talked?? That sure sounds illegal to me. It does tie in with those lax attitudes of the time period with law enforcement getting into people’s apartments, the special license plates, reverse directory retrievals, and more without any pesky troubles with warrants and such. Such a contrast with today!
It’s the worried Letty and the angry Frank that pull Storm and Grimm in even more intimately. It’s a tale of great confusion — I know there are supposed to be unexpected developments in a story, to keep it exciting, but Redhead goes out of its way to twist and turn about, for the surprises keep on a’coming.
That Wenlock is certainly a bad character. No sense of fair play and dives into depths of wicked revenge. His counterpart, Zoeman, is so much the opposite. I had to laugh at Zoeman’s relationship with Storm.
Talk about secret! Even the agents don’t know who each other is! It’s a good thing Creasey uses third person global subjective point-of-view! That way we get a perspective from all sorts of characters! Phew.
It’s exciting what with ambushes, gun battles, cover-ups, threats, explosives, kidnapping, arson, betrayals and double crosses, snipers, a “fortress” under siege, not much in the way of car chases but plenty of crashes(!), and malaria forces an ugly turn.
Sure, Creasey’s Department Z is over-the-top with that devil-may-care attitude and the fortitude of these supermen of Department Z, men determined to succeed at all costs. Just thinking of that blackened thumb and finger . . .!
The Story
Amateur boxer Roger Grimm’s visit to New York seemed like it was a success. That is, until he and his cousin’s, Martin Storm’s, car was machine-gunned and the police had to smuggle the men out of the country . . .
But Storm and Grimm find no safety at home, either, and the search begins to find the man who is hunting them down.
Storm soon discovers that they have become involved with an American underworld boss who is planning to expand his business to Britain. Will Storm and Grimm be able to bob and weave their way out of the gangster’s clutches, with some help from the agents of Department Z — or will this be their final match?
Meanwhile robbery is on the rise in England, especially the Royal Mail! And a new friend’s family and home is under threat.
The Characters
Martin “Windy” Annersley Storm and his cousin Roger “Grimy” Montgomery Grimm, the winner of a prized boxing trophy in America, might both be agents for Department Z. Sir Joseph and Alicia, Lady Grimm, are Roger’s parents who live in Philmore Crescent. Marcus “Horrors” Horrobin is Storm’s manservant.
Department Z is . . .
. . . the unofficial name for British Intelligence. Gordon Craigie, Number One, is the legend who heads it up, preventing “war rising from the little flames of insurrection simmering . . . throughout Europe and the Near East”. Agents include Bill Loftus, the long-winded Timothy and Toby Arrans, who speaks with machine-gun precision, are twins; (I think Splits is the twins’ manservant); Martin Best; “Dodo” Trale; Derek Milhowel; and, St John “Righteous” Dane. Mention is made of Numbers Seven, Eight, Ten, and Twelve. Hmm, as well as a Chubby Spencer?
Scotland Yard
Superintendent Horace Miller is the liaison between the Yard and Department Z.
Sir William Divot is a politician with the Home Office. Perret is his chauffeur. I think Sir John is the prime minister.
On board the Hoveric . . .
. . . where Roker is the captain. Storm and Grimm were shoved aboard in New York. “Ginger” is a show-off and a braggart who can’t handle rejection. Just wait till you hear about his actions at the end of the voyage!!! Tiger Norse is an obnoxious prize fighter.
Frank “Granny” and Letty Granville are brother and sister have been traveling for the past five years and normally live at the isolated Ledsholm Grange. Their parents, Sir Frank and Lady Granville, died in a car crash. The staff at the Grange includes Perriman, the gardener; Tom Harries, the caretaker; Mrs Harries; and, Smithers, the under-gardener who looks after the Grange’s electric plant.
Ledsholm in Sussex is . . .
. . . the village. Benjamin Cripps runs the local pub, The Four Bells. Jane Simms is the post mistress Cripps is sweet on. PC Gummer is the contentious local constable. Nearby is the Utopia Garage.
Hesketh Zoeman, a former branch manager of the English side of Wenlock Oil, is the fair-playing English agent for Redhead. His men include Kurt, who is Zoeman’s second-in-command; Hemmings; Lefty; Hibbert; Snelling; Greenaway; and, Browning.
Ralph Wenlock’s men include Pedro and Seltzer. The inhuman Saul Wenlock, his father, shows up in London. Vines is his chauffeur. Rosselli is another man of Wenlock’s (the father). The Florida Moon is Wenlock’s yacht.
The Éclat Hotel is a popular spot. The Carilon Club appears to be an unofficial club for Department Z agents. The Assistant Postmaster General has a daughter, Felicity du Corle. Sommers Lee-Knight is on his honeymoon and let his house to Gazzoni.
New York City
Superintendent O’Halloran is with the New York PD. The Courier is run by George Warren, the editor.
Redhead, the deadly swine, is the nickname for a truly evil crime boss of whom everyone is in deadly terror.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a devilish combination of black background and the red of the author’s name at the top, the ubiquitous slanted label in the top right corner with the series info, an info blurb under the title, and the stripes of the British flag in the middle right and those of the American flag in the lower left. That title under the author’s name and the stars in the American flag are the only white.
The title is succinct. It is all about that vile Redhead.
