The Paradise Job [Hardcover]

Sally Spencer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Frank Mason is a seemingly invincible gang boss in the London underworld, but the middle-aged Mason would rather live in Scotland and watch birds. He's also tormented by the demands of his wife--an underworld variation of Hilda Rumpole--and a greedy mistress. To facilitate his escape to Scotland, Mason plans a bank job so lucrative and so surprising that he and his gang can start new lives with large nest eggs. Spencer's latest offers an enjoyable combination of caper novel and police procedural. Characters are well developed, the story moves at a good pace, and Spencer uses her two settings--England and Majorca--evocatively. The novel is reminiscent of those suave and funny crime movies of the 1950s starring Cary Grant or David Niven. John Rowen

About the Author

Spencer was born and brought up in Cheshier. She has been a teacher in England and Iran.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 072785464X
• ISBN-13: 978-0727854643
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,537,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better Than Inspector Woodend, January 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Paradise Job (Hardcover)

I liked this one much better than the Inspector Charlie Woodend books. Interesting story that keeps moving with out endless interview with the suspects. All-in-all it's a good read. Too bad it is out of print.

5.0 out of 5 stars Five stars for all the plot twists, March 18, 2011

By 

S. Saunders (Rocky Mountains USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Paradise Job (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this crime novel more than I expected to. I've been reading several of this author's police procedurals lately. This isn't one of her Charlie Woodend series. Sometimes a series author produces a disappointing stand-alone novel, but this one did not disappoint.

The plot hangs on a London career criminal's plan to rob one last bank, and sail off into the sunset with his luscious sexy mistress, leaving his wife behind. But of course, nothing is simple, nobody (well, almost nobody) is a complete fool although many characters are deeply flawed, and everybody has his or her own agenda. I won't say if there were double crosses, or triple crosses, but will say that the twists and turns kept on coming until the very end.

I found some of the characters memorable, and was amused by the plot theme involving a man who married the boss's daughter, and went on to achieve his own success, but still is subject to the old man's power. And beholden to his wife (the boss's daughter) who has been the brains behind his own success. And all of that happened in the world of crime instead of commerce, industry or finance.