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
The Mark of the Crescent
by
John Creasey
spy thriller in a Kindle edition that was published by Agora Books on September 24, 2015 and has 260 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads
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, Carriers of Death, First Came a Murder, Death Round the Corner, Death by Night, Sabotage, A Kind of Prisoner
Fifth in the Department Z spy thriller series, first published in 1935, and revolving around a plot to sell a powerful explosive. The focus is on George and Polly.
My Take
Ooh, it’s an exciting start that leads Mrs Lambert to make her judgment, and it brings the perception home of the time’s morality.
It’s useful that Creasey uses third person global subjective point-of-view, as we get a perspective from many of the characters.
Ya get them everywhere. Every group of people has their bad apples. It’s just sad when such a group is of ex-soldiers.
There’s plenty of humor, starting with George playing the fool, so very well. I do enjoy the devil-may-care attitude of Craigie’s agents . . .
”In danger some men swear, some pray, mine play the fool.”
. . . an attitude inspired by the average agent lifespan of five years.
It’s kidnapping, attacks on agent wives, betrayals — the usual and the unexpected!, Polly getting pulled into the spy life, and twisty plotting all against the culture, technology, and morals of the time.
Rutter is just plain nasty while Maurice is a joke. For an intelligent man, Morritz can be quite dim!
I am confused. The Mark of the Crescent was published in 1935, and yet Creasey talks of the Nazis and Jews and concentration camps.
The Story
An explosive material is sought by the Americans and the Russians, and Department Z has all it can do to keep its British inventor safe.
It’s a well-timed plot that could hurt Britain in too many ways.
The Characters
Department Z is . . .
. . . a very secretive part of the Intelligence Service in England. Gordon “Big Chief” Craigie is the head of Department Z and practically lives in his hidden office. Bill Loftus, of the missing leg, is Craigie’s assistant. Christine Loftus is Bill’s involved wife.
The mostly large and usually flippant Department Z agents include Mark and Mike Errol, who are not twins but cousins; Teddy Dunster; Guy Grey; Bruce Hammond; George Henry George, previously with MI9, appears to be a fool; Hoffmann, a Jew; and, Commyns. Dr Little is the department’s on-call physician. Bannister is Department Z’s own impersonator.
Scotland Yard
Superintendent Miller is the liaison officer between Department Z and Scotland Yard. Archibald Chatworth is the assistant commissioner.
Herbert Mattley is the prime minister of England. Gilbert Leven is the foreign secretary. Other officials include Hubert Wilberforce Bentley, OBE; and, Joseph Witticome is a member of Parliament for a Midland Division.
Paula Bentley is Bentley’s suspicious sister, who is studying for the Diplomatic Service — William had been her husband; May is her maid. Gertrude Ryall is Bentley’s expensive girlfriend who lives at Rostrum, a house owned by the wealthy Hemmingway Noel who also owns an armament company. Thomas Noel, Noel’s nephew, screws up. Croom is Noel’s butler.
Ethel “Polly” Dalton, a.k.a. Plump Polly, is the niece of old Professor Gabriel Toller, who has invented more secret weapons than any man living. He used to work for Dakers, a prominent armament firm. Dr Morritz had been his co-inventor on T.N.25. There are other armament firms that include Hemmingway, Noel and Hemmingway; Vickers; and, the BSA.
Bournemouth is . . .
. . . a coastal resort town in Dorset, England. Superintended Carr is with the Hampshire Constabulary. Mildmay is an estate agent who knows that Blue Tiles was sold to Colonel Broderick, Mountebank, and Chineside was sold in Wilson’s.
Eric Lambert is the manager of the Mayberry, a small private hotel on the West Cliff. Emily is his censorious wife. Guests include Larkin, who is an old hypocrite but acceptable since he pays 10-guineas for his room, ahem. The Pines is a hotel taken over by Department Z. The Norfolk is a dinner destination.
George “Iron Face” Rutter, a.k.a. Forbeson, is the gang administrator. His operatives include Lodge and his wife; Percival Algernon Merryweather, a.k.a. “Apple Pie”, is spying in the Mayberry; the self-obsessed Maurice Mondelle is hired to be a seducer; Maude appears to be a maid or housekeeper; Red; Kelly looks almost exactly like Toller; Peel; Mr Bradd; Marmaduke is a wanna-be bomber; and, Smith is a prankster.
A chine is a steep-sided gorge. One of the victims includes Jennie. An “Aunt Sally” is a target.
The Cover and Title
The background of the cover looks like a dirty, beat-up old folder with a dirt-creased line on the left side and right-aligned black lines with a No on the fourth, shorter line down. At the top left is the author’s name in purple with the title immediately beneath it in black. Below this is a testimonial in purple. Towards the bottom right is a purple crescent moon on a tilt. In the upper right corner is what appears to be a stamp askew with a purple border and the series info in purple.
I have no clue what the title, The Mark of the Crescent, means. I think the title was supposed to go to another story.
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