Mrs. Thatcher's London is bristling with the newly rich bankers, and property developers who have declared the city their personal playground. But on tiny Jerusalem Lane, time seems not so much to have stood still as to have slipped backwards. Its shabby houses are home to a clutch of elderly emigres, refugees from a once war-torn Europe who are still fighting ancient political battles, the Trotskyites thumping their canes in fury, the Leninists bellowing into the Anarchists' hearing-aids. To many outsiders, the Lane's enmities look like some quaint geezers' hobby, a louder version of canasta. But then the geezers start dying.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
False leads everywhere,
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This review is from: The Marx Sisters: Kathy and Brock #1 (Paperback)
Three eccentric old ladies live in Jerusalem Lane, a street that has somehow survived in its centuries-old form and kept a neighborhood feeling besides - a phenomenon in the heart of London.One day Meredith, the eldest sister, is found dead in her bed, possibly smothered. The case dies a natural death from lack of evidence, but not for long. Kathy and Brock are the detectives in charge. She's an attractive young woman, very sharp, but with a tendency to leap before she looks. He's a wise graybeard, sexy for his age, and a hotshot from Scotland Yard. The dynamics between them are subtly handled. Getting the right perpetrator is a challenge, since there are several likely motives. It might be the big bad developer who wants to buy out the old ladies and get their property. Or it might be someone after a valuable manuscript allegedly by Karl Marx. It might even be a person enraged by the managing personality of Meredith. The author reveals by the title of his book that these elderly sisters are descendants of Marx, but the sisters themselves keep it quiet. In a sense they're waiting for Karl Marx to regain his popularity! Getting to know these old ladies is one of the many delights of the plot. Overall, THE MARX SISTERS has a great cast of characters, with the good guys and the bad guys sometimes changing place. The writing style is terse and to the purpose, and the author has an excellent ear for dialog. I'm delighted to have found this series.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Solid London mystery,
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This review is from: The Marx Sisters: Kathy and Brock #1 (Paperback)
This is the first of a series (once called the "Kathy and Brock" series and now called the "Brock and Kolla" series, as the woman detective apparently matures enough to be called by her last name) set in modern but pre-cell-phone London. Confidently constructed along the model of P.D. James's best books, it kept developing up to the very last page. Places and characters were memorable and distinct. The detectives (Kathy and David, Kolla and Brock, whatever) revealed some of their back stories, but not so much that it burdened the narrative.The only misstep was one beautifully written little chapter that changed perspective completely to the point of view of one of the suspects. I suspect the author liked it so much that he couldn't bear to discard it, even though it was the only moment of that sort in the book, and didn't really add much to the characterization. A look at the author's biographical profile (he's a retired architect-turned-academic) explained why the architectural and academic scenes had a nice satirical tone that was otherwise not evident but provided a little welcome lightness. I look forward to reading the books that follow in this series. What a pleasure to have found a new (to me) author!
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