Review of "George Passant: Strangers and Brothers #2" by C.P. Snow

  

I first read C.P. Snow's 'Strangers and Brothers' series some time ago, and it became a favorite. The novels focus on an English barrister/civil servant, Lewis Elliot, who rises from poverty to a position of influence in the early-to-mid 1900s. Elliot is present in the entire eleven-book series, but he's not always the central character.

Storywise, 'George Passant' is the second book in the series.

*****

Lewis Eliot was a junior clerk in his town's 'Council Education Office' when he first met George Passant.



Lewis took night classes at the local College of Art and Technology (aka the School), and George, a solicitor/managing clerk at the law firm Eden & Martineau, taught Fundamentals of Criminal Law.



Lewis was drawn into George's social circle, a cluster of young people (called 'the group') that George - then in his mid-twenties - collected around him. All the group, both men and women, were students at the School. The group often met in cafés.....



...... and then developed the practice of spending weekends at a farmhouse ten miles away, where they would cook their own food, pay a shilling a night for a bed, and talk until daybreak.



*****

When the novel 'George Passant' opens around 1930, Lewis is a London barrister in his mid-twenties, and George - now in his early thirties - is still just a solicitor/managing clerk at Eden & Martineau. George hopes to be made a partner, but Mr. Eden disapproves of George's 'way of life' and won't support a promotion.



George has continued to maintain his social circle (the group), which still spends weekends at a farmhouse in the country. The group is composed of a cadre of young people who admire George for his independence and visionary ideas. George encourages his adherents to think for themselves, reject social conventions, and pursue their dreams.



George does everything he can to support his followers. Thinking of his own time in George's circle, Lewis recalls, "George had set us moving, lent us money....it was the first time we had been so near to a generous-hearted man...We became excited over the books he told us to read and the views he stood by, violent, argumentative, four square. We were carried away by his belief in human beings and ourselves."

George's support for a charismatic young man in his group, Jack Cotery, has serious repercussions. Jack works for a newspaper publisher named Mr. Calvert, who helps pay for Jack's printing classes at the School.



When Mr. Calvert's teenage son Roy develops an innocent crush on Jack, the publisher gets angry and withdraws his financial support for Jack's classes. George intervenes and gets a partial victory, but Jack still can't afford to continue his education.

Jack is an enterprising fellow however, and he embarks on a series of financial schemes, some of which skirt the law. Jack convinces George to be his partner in two of these enterprises.....



.....and before long, the authorities accuse George, Jack, and Jack's girlfriend Olive Calvert of financial fraud - specifically misleading investors to get money.



Lewis Eliot becomes the group's barrister, to defend them in court.



Of course, Lewis's major concern is his friend George, who's VERY NERVOUS about the upcoming trial. When Lewis reads George's diary to prepare for the case, he realizes why.



George's journal contains passages like, "This randy fit is going on too long. Last night I could not resist taking the train to London. I was inflamed by the vision of one of our prettiest [prostitutes].....Tonight it was still on me. I took the familiar train to Nottingham. I found a pair of old friends in the first pub...but they were booked...so I moved on. I have hazy recollections of hordes of women that I kissed."

Worse yet, George's diary refers to Katherine, and Freda, and Daphne, all young women in George's group. In Lewis's time, George would have considered it COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE to sleep with women in his circle; however, George's desires apparently got the best of him. In fact the farmhouse is the site of rampant sexual activity among people in the group, and George is terrified this will come out in court.

We follow along as Lewis Eliot and his former boss Herbert Getliffe defend George and his alleged co-conspirators.



That's the core of the story, with tangential action that adds interest to the narrative. For instance:

🔴 Mr. Martineau (of Eden & Matineau), a capable and respected solicitor, undergoes a religious conversion. He becomes a devout Christian, leaves the law firm, gives away his money, and becomes a member of 'The Brotherhood of the Road.'



🔴 Olive Calvert, a young woman from a wealthy family, seems to have no direction in life. She dallies with the rapscallion Jack Cotery as well as a respectable educated man called Arthur Morcom, who pines for her.



🔴 George has troubles besides the lawsuit. He's frustrated about doing most of the work at Eden & Martineau while being paid a managing clerk's salary; he could help himself by attending Eden's soirées, but he gets awkward among upper class people; his current girlfriend Daphne is maneuvering to marry him; and he must help his parents financially, but spends too much money on himself (wink wink).



As before, there's a good bit of British slang in the book. For instance:

🔴 Mr. Eden tells Lewis an older barrister must assist him for George's trial, saying, "[The jury would] resent all the [youthful] brilliance right from the start. You'd only have to make a clever suggestion, and they'd distrust you. They'd be jibbing from all the good qualities of your generation..." (In this context, 'jibbing ' means resisting, ignoring.)



🔴 George's mother is talking about Mr. Martineau doing a bunk saying, "That's the place old Mr. Martineau started his acting tricks, isn't it? I should like to know what culch he's getting up to now." (In this context, culch means foolishness.)



🔴 George has an entry in his diary that reads: "The last weekend was full of drunken nights, of decrepit nights. I went to Nottingham, finding money drip away as usual. I was still on the hunt and finished at Connie's....Then I realized once again that no other girl of the past year is fit to take her place. I just had time for a huzzlecoo; then I went back on the last train. (In this context, huzzlecoo means a romantic interaction.)



This isn't among the most compelling books in the series, but it's an engaging tale that's important to the continuing story. 

Rating: 4 stars

Review of "Midnight Patriots: An Einstein-Chaplin Thriller" by Paul Levine

  

 

This is the second book in the Einstein-Chaplin thriller series, featuring real-life friends Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin. The novels contain real historical characters and include actual historical occurrences. However, they're stories with author's discretion.


Charlie Chaplin (left) and Albert Einstein

In the first book, Midnight Burning, pro-fascist William Pelley plans 'Operation Hollywood' to kill the most influential Jews in Tinseltown, starting with Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin (Chaplin isn't Jewish but calls himself a son of Abraham).

In this follow-up novel, the Nazis again have nefarious plans for Chaplin and Einstein. The book can be read as a standalone, but why miss out on the fun; start with book one.

*****

It's November 1940, Germany occupies much of Europe and the Luftwaffe is bombing England to smithereens. Charlie Chaplin's movie, 'The Great Dictator', which portrays German Führer Adolf Hitler as a blustering buffoon with cowardly and effeminate mannerisms, is a smash success in America.



Not so much in Germany. Hitler is infuriated by Chaplin's mockery, and the Schutzstaffel (SS) dispatches an assassin called Schmidt to kill the movie maker.



At the same time, spy master Fritz Duquesne, who works for the the Abwehr (German counterintelligence agency), has an extensive spy network in the United States. Duquesne plans to kidnap Albert Einstein, take him to Germany, and force him to help the Nazis make an atomic bomb.



The SS and Abwehr are rival organizations, both trying to gain favor with the Führer, and the tension between Schmidt and Duquesne has unexpected repercussions.

In the meantime, General George Strong, a U.S army intelligence officer, is pursuing Nazi spies, protecting Charlie Chaplin and Albert Einstein, and trying to convince Einstein to help the American effort to develop an atomic bomb. Einstein is on the horns of a dilemma. He warned President Roosevelt that Germany is making a bomb, and advised FDR that America better make one first. On the other hand, Einstein is a committed pacifist, and doesn't want to HELP make the bomb.



Jewish gangster Mickey Cohen, newly married to LaVonne Weaver, also takes it upon himself to protect Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin.



While he's at it, Cohen asks Einstein to make his newlywed bride LaVonne smart.



Mickey says, "[LaVonne] ain't had much schooling, unless you count the school of hard knocks. Maybe you can teach her some five-dollar words. Polish her to shine like my alligator wingtips." Cohen goes on, "Wouldn't hurt me none to learn a few fancy words, too, Professor." 

Cohen's right, and his language problems provide some laughs. For instance:

🔴 Einstein tries to deflect Mickey from shooting someone who had a hard childhood, and Mickey says, "I know what you're doing, Professor. Psychotic warfare." [Psychological warfare.]

🔴 Mickey tells a police officer, "Ain't gonna say a word to no more Nazis. I'm going completely incom-avocado." [Incommunicado.]

🔴 A Princeton student who's a Nazi sympathizer brags, "I was a coxswain on our mixed pairs in the '36 Olympics. The German's love of country was invigorating." Cohen watches the smirky blond wiseacre. He doesn't know a coxswain from a cockroach, but if he runs into this punk, he'll slap him silly.



While the U.S. army and Mickey Cohen are working to protect Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover is suspicious of both men. He thinks Chaplin is morally questionable, and he believes Einstein is a communist sympathizer.



Thus Hoover dispatches two FBI agents - Brian Sullivan and Millie Vazquez - to follow Einstein, monitor his activities, and keep him away from the American nuclear program.



After much drama with guns, a cross-bow, surveillance operations, car chases, captured Nazi agents and more, the key characters find themselves on the Santa Fe Super Chief, a luxury train from Chicago to Los Angeles.



The people aboard include:

🔴 Albert Einstein: The physicist is traveling for scientific and public engagements; though Einstein's a pacifist, he knows America will have to go to war sooner or later.

🔴 Fritz Duquesne: The Abwehr spymaster is traveling undercover; he has an elaborate plan to kidnap Einstein along the way.

🔴 Brian Sullivan and Millie Vazquez: The FBI agents are undercover as well, posing as husband and wife; they're keeping an eye on Einstein, to see if he meets up with communists.

🔴 Charlie Chaplin: the movie mogul is returning to Hollywood after promoting The Great Dictator; he gets friendly with fellow passenger Lena Horne (a rising star at this time) along the way.



🔴 Mickey Cohen: the mobster is on his honeymoon trip with LaVonne; Mickey is determined to keep Einstein and Chaplin safe.

🔴 Charles Lindbergh: the aviator, an outspoken Nazi sympathizer, is traveling to give speeches and promote his 'America First' agenda. One of Lindbergh's many mistresses in on board also.



🔴 J. Robert Oppenheimer: the scientist is returning to Berkeley, where he's a professor involved in nuclear research; Oppenheimer's new wife Kitty, who was once a member of America's communist party, is on the train as well.



The train trip makes up a good portion of the book, and provides much of the novel's forward motion as people's motives and plans are exposed.

For me, this book doesn't have the pizzazz of Midnight Burning The story is more 'talk' than excitement: Einstein and Chaplin try to convince Lindbergh of the error of his isolationist/pro-Nazi stance; J. Edgar fumes about communists; military folk talk about making a bomb. Perhaps because the book is set in 1940, things are more in the planning than the doing stage.

Still, it's entertaining to see Charlie Chaplin climb out a 43rd floor window in his boxer shorts, to avoid being shot for canoodling with Marion Davies - the mistress of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst; and the spy vs. spy drama is rather exciting too.


Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst

All in all, I'd recommend the book to fans of historical mysteries.

I had the digital book and the audiobook, narrated by Malcolm Hillgartner, who does a fine job.

Thanks to Netgalley, Paul Levine, Herald Square and Brilliance Audio for ARCs of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars 

Review of "Cat on a Hot Tin Woof: A Chet and Bernie Mystery" by Spencer Quinn

 

  

In this 16th book in the 'Chet and Bernie' series, the detective team searches for a missing 'internet famous' cat. The book works fine as a standalone.

In the Chet and Bernie stories, Bernie Little and his hundred-plus pound dog Chet are partners in the Little Detective Agency in Arizona.



Bernie is a West Point graduate, military hero, former police officer, and good at his PI job. Sartorially, Bernie is a fan of Hawaiian shirts, which are loose enough to hide a gun when Bernie's carrying.



Bernie is also the divorced father of 7-year-old Charlie, who's thrilled to have a detective for a dad.



Chet is Bernie's invaluable partner, who's always ready to clamp his jaw on perps and drag them off by the pants.



The books are narrated by Chet, whose somewhat limited vocabulary, unfamiliarity with idioms, and doggie logic set the stage for plenty of smiles.

*****

As the story opens, Bernie and Chet are at Nixon's Championship Autobody, having a bullet extracted from Bernie's vintage Porsche. As Bernie and Nixon talk about the black and white Porsche being too conspicuous for a private investigator.....



.....teenage Bitty Pond and her mother Evelyn Pond arrive at Nixon's Championship Autobody to pick up their car.



Next thing you know, the Little Detective Agency is being hired for a job.



It seems Bitty's cat 'Miss Kitty' - who has over six million followers on the Slickety app - is missing. Not only does Bittty loves her feline, but Miss Kitty brings in $75,000 a month from sponsors, and the Pond ladies need the money.



One of Bernie's first questions to Bitty and Evelyn is 'who has a key to the house', and Bernie and Chet are soon off to interview Phillips Pond (Phil), Evelyn's ex-husband and Bitty's father. Phil and his girlfriend Yolanda live out in the desert, in a mobile home up on blocks....



.....and as Chet reports, there's a chain-link pen around the back with the biggest pig Chet's ever seen, "an enormous pink and black dude busy with a watermelon rind."



In any case, Phil mistakes Bernie for a bill collector, Yolanda threatens him with a shotgun, and the couple claim to know nothing about Miss Kitty's disappearance. They behave squirrelly though, and Bernie thinks they know more than they're saying.



Later, when Bernie and Chet return to re-interview Phil and Yolanda, Phil is dead in the kitchen, Yolanda is gone, and Señor Piggy (as Chet calls him) has burrowed out of his pen and run off. Bernie and Chet hurry off to rescue Señor Piggy from coyotes, and when they bring Señor Piggy back, Phil's body has disappeared.

Before long there's another murder, and Chet deals with a stalker watching Bitty and Evelyn. As Bernie and Chet continue to investigate, they meet a couple of cowgirls who own 'Two Fillies Ranch', and run into rude bikers who impel Bernie to use his famous uppercut when they call Chet a fleabag.



In his personal life, Bernie does a favor for his ex-wife Leda; picks up his son Charlie from Rocketry Club; and spends time with his fiancée Weatherly - a sergeant with the Valley PD. Chet describes all this in detail, though he's amusingly vague about the mischief he's caused during these interactions.



Bernie also hears from a Hollywood agent called Manny Ax, who wants to make a Bernie and Chet PI movie. To smooth the way, Manny sends an enormous wicker basket overflowing with flowers, Bernie's favorite bourbon, and Beef Jerky Heavenlies, made by Doggie Deluxe, Hollywood's finest canine emporium. Bernie's not on board with the movie idea, and asks Chet, "What are we going to do? Send it back?"



Chet is gobsmacked and says, "Had I heard right? Send it back? The flowers, maybe - in fact why not? If it would make Bernie happy we could do without the flowers. Would it help if I peed on them this very second? Happy to. I'm a a team player don't forget. As for the bourbon, I supposed that was up to him, water being my drink. But those Beef Jerky Heavenlies? No way."

There's plenty of danger and adventure before Bernie and Chet solve the case of the missing cat. The climax is somewhat abrupt, but I enjoyed the book, especially Chet's narration. I'll include a couple of examples of Chet's amusing remarks.

Talking about Bernie's cars, Chet says, "Our ride's a Porsche, but not shiny new. Far from it! We've had several Porsches in my career, for sure more than two, which is where I stop when it comes to numbers, but all of them - including the brown one with yellow doors that went off a cliff and the one with martini glass decals that got blown up - were old."



Chet observes, "Bernie is brilliant of course, but - and I mean this in the nicest way - he's not at his most brilliant brilliance when it comes to finances. Perhaps later I'll get into our Hawaiian pants business and even the tin futures play, ruined by an earthquake."



With this in mind, when Bernie and Chet eat at Julio Chan's Tex-Mex Hunan Pagoda, where the sign over the door is a sombrero made of chopsticks, Chet hears Bernie offer Julio a loan. Chet says, "As for what they were talking about....Something about a loan from us? How would that make sense? Hadn't Ms. Mendez - out bank manager and a woman of the no-nonsense type - given Bernie a stern talking to on this very subject?"



As always, this is a fun mystery, a must-read for Chet and Bernie fans.

Thanks to Netgalley, Spencer Quinn, and Minotaur for an ARC of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars