Anthony Morton (1)

The Shadow is striking terror into the hearts of the rich as he robs them with gleeful aplomb. The public has a sneaking affection for him because he’s not violent, and because he’s audacious. But one of these days someone’s going to get hurt. The Yard decides to call in John Mannering, aka the Baron, who has some experience with the gentleman robber type, to help them find out who the Shadow is. The Baron is happy to oblige, because the question’s been bugging him too. But curiosity may very well kill the cat in this case…

This is a popcorn read for those who like mild thrillers. It’s not gory or scary in any way, and the story rattles along comfortably enough. It is the 20th book in the Baron series, but I don’t think you need to read these in order; they provide enough context to orient the reader, and really they are plot-driven rather than character-driven. They may do the trick when you need something quick and easy to break a reading slump, or if you’re trying to fill time.

The edition I read had been scanned using OCR, and the OCR had not been corrected—there were goofy typos, misplaced punctuation marks, and distracting line breaks. So I would suggest reading this in print if you can get a hold of a copy.

I’ll probably read more if I happen across them cheaply, but they won’t be a high priority.… (mehr)

From the later career of the Baron, he's now an established art dealer occasionally using his skills to help other people solve mysteries that are somewhat outside the skills of the police.
He's summoned by an older woman to look at some paintings in her attic, when he gets there she's been attacked and her house is on fire, he sends the paintings to the police and proceeds to investigate the situation, his interest piqued. It's complicated and messy and Mannering is apparently having a ball of a time.
It's not a scenario that would work today but it's an entertaining snapshot of the time and a messy mystery that is quite a lot of fun.… (mehr)

The series has taken a strange turn here. Up through the previous book, "Sport For The Baron", the "public" did not know that Mannering was The Baron. Both John & Lorna have always been afraid that this information would come out and Mannering would be arrested. Now suddenly with this book the "general public" in the book know he is the Baron and no one has any problem with that. Huh? I waited to say anything until I read the following book, "The Baron and the Missing Old Masters", but it was the same in that book. He is now known as The Baron. Could this be in response to the TV series that came out about that time?… (mehr)