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
Carriers of Death
by
John Creasey
spy thriller, vintage mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Agora Books, Polis Books on June 19, 2017 and has 207 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, Redhead, First Came a Murder, Death Round the Corner, Death by Night, Sabotage, A Kind of Prisoner
Eighth in the Department Z spy thriller series set in the mid-1930s and revolving around the men who work for British Intelligence. The focus is on the introduction of Robert McMillan Kerr into Department Z. Carriers of Death was originally published in 1937.
My Take
It’s a James Bond from the 1930s with all liveliness and high spirits to keep Craigie’s agents joking, lessening the tension of their lives.
I was fascinated at the espionage activities of this time period and the contrast between then and now. How much harder (and easier) it is today. Ahh, if only Department Z had had access to cellphones, lol.
Creasey uses a third person global subjective point-of-view as we read the thoughts and actions from a variety of characters’ perspectives, which makes it simple to read Craigie’s assessment of the men he employs and how he makes use of their abilities. He also ponders on how cold he has to be in sending men out to their possible death.
I love this line: “Someone — something — was trying to create chaos on these fair fields . . .”
There’s also the history of Z and how practice has evolved with the men knowing each other and married men retiring.
It’s scary that Creasey wrote of the then current-day concerns in the mid-1930s about the conflicts (and the names of those conflicts that I did not learn in school) that preceded World War II that didn’t start until 1939. About those who protested the League of Nations. That ineffective League of Nations, and now Trump is inveighing about the United Nations. Very scary.
More scary to come is the rise of fascism then (and now). The same complaints then (as now) of politicians catering to the whim of rabble rousers and not to commonsense. There’s a reason we should not alter history, as we need to learn from it.
Coincidences and stall tactics abound and leave Department Z suspicious of everyone.
While there are colorful and ruthless characters in Carriers of Death — names have been changed to protect the past, er, their present — it’s the action that carries the story — bombings, staged collisions, murders, kidnappings, attacks, and more. Creasey has ramped up the tension here, and I couldn’t read fast enough.
I gotta say, that “explanation” the British offered the world was brilliant and hard to dispute.
The Story
A promise is a promise, and the Arrans promised Potter that they’d look after his niece as she transits through London on her way to her aunt in Cannes.
It’s damned inconvenient as the Arrans have been summoned to New York. If they keep their promise, they’ll miss the boat.
Little do any of them know the plot that ties it all together. The destruction of factories, machines, and cities in both America and Britain. The effect it has on morale and the economy.
Fascism is on the rise.
The Characters
Robert “Bob” McMillan Kerr is a world-famous aviator, who thinks quickly on his feet. The Wishing Bone is his three-engined monoplane.
Department Z is . . .
. . . more formally known as British Intelligence and headed up by Gordon Craigie, a worldwide legend. His agents, Craigie’s Iron Men, include Timothy and Tobias Arran, twins (Heggson is the Arrans’ man); Bob Carruthers; Wally Davidson; “Dodo” Trale; and, Beaumont. Jim Burke is an agent who recently left Department Z. Sir Keith Chadwell is an eminent surgeon.
Penelope Smith is the niece of Jeremy Potter, an old family friend of the Arran family, who owns Potter Mills. Aunt Potter is vacationing in Cannes. Mark Potter is Jeremy’s strict Victorian brother who handles the export orders. Oakwood is Jeremy Potter’s butler. Mrs Lilian Trentham is his secretary. Somerston is the Potters’ legal advisor. Clay is Mark Potter’s man.
Scotland Yard
Superintendent Horace Miller is the Yard liaison with Department Z. Sir William Fellowes.
Inspector Moor is based in Preston where Superintendent Caldicott is located. Constable Pucker is based in Crayshaw in Sussex. Ramage is one of the constables in Wimbledon Common. Colonel Martinson is in charge of Pockham Camp.
The Right Honorable David Wishart is the prime minister. Members of his cabinet include Permanent Under-Secretary for Defense Sir Kenneth Halloway (Johnson is Halloway’s absent chauffeur), the Scottish Nationalist Sir James Cathie, Secretary for Foreign Affairs Graeme, Secretary for War Yelding, Home Secretary Sir Tristam Davies, Ministers without Portfolio Sir Charles Garney and Arthur Simmersley, and Lee-Knight. Philip Fenway is the American Ambassador to London henpecked by his noble English wife.
Gregory Marlin is a broker. His clients include Sir Miles Bradley and Charles Moran, both industrialists; Sir James; Wishart; and, other influential people. Mr Mayhew is an old family friend of Jeremy Potter’s. Jacob Benson is the ruthless leader of a gang.
The Éclat Hotel is a popular spot where Roper is a regular visitor. The Carilon Club appears to be an informal club for Dept Z agents. The Lucretia is a Victorian-style hotel where Smith had called. “Benjamin Piper” is renting Common View, a house near Wimbledon Common from Mr Peterson. Mr Reynoldson is the town clerk and a neighbor of Piper’s. Misters Kirby and Kelly have been frequent guests at the Crown Inn run by Tippett. Heston is an airfield. The American-owned Hyams Motor Corporation shuts down. Big Bill Hopson inflames opinion against America. Carter is an O.C. for a gas factory in Dorchester. Bert runs a garage near Wimbledon Commons. The Entente is a group of mid-European countries.
In America
Julian Northway is an American broker. Thomas Lander is the governor of New York. “Arthur Strong” is an American financier. Mrs Rampaz inquired about her missing husband, Jake, who was a journalist. Baertin represents American armament firms. The previous US President, Hafford, had been an isolationist. The USS Akren was lost with all hands.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a black-on-black background, its only relief a map of the world with a smoking bomb at the bottom. The author’s name is at the top in the same yellow as the flame flickering on the bomb’s fuse. The title is immediately below that in white with an info blurb below that in yellow. A label in yellow, angled across the top right, provides the series info.
The title is accurate, for those Carriers of Death are sabotaging the country’s arms everywhere..
