Mick Herron: Dead lions

Mick Herronin kovaotteinen vakoilumaailmaa kuvaava jännäri osoittautui mainioksi lukupläjäykseksi: Dead lions (Soho Crime, 2013; ISBN 978-1-61695-367-6).



Tarina kertoo syystä tai toisesta urallaan epäonnistuneista agenteista, jotka saavat tehtäväkseen lähinnä rutiiniluontoisia juttuja. Mutta tällä kertaa tapaus osoittautuukin kaikkea muuta kuin rutiininomaiseksi, ja tapauksen juuret yltävät kylmän sodan aikoihin asti.

A group of washed-up disgraced MI5 agents are given the chance to solve the case of a Cold-War-era spy found dead on a bus outside Oxford. They uncover a shadowy tangle of secrets leading to Alexander Popov - either a Soviet bogeyman or the most dangerous man in the world.

Madeline Hunter: The accidental duchess

Madeline Hunterin neliosaisen viihderomaanisarjan viimeinen osa kertoo vedonlyönnin seurauksista: The accidental duchess (Jove Books, 2014; ISBN 978-0-515-15131-2).



Tarina on yhtä lailla polveileva ja sisältö höttöinen kuin teossarjan aiemmissakin osissa. Sivumääräkin on maltillinen, joten kirjojen lukemiseen ei aikaa mene kovinkaan paljon.

When Lady Lydia Alfreton is blackmailed over the shocking contents of a manuscript she once wrote, she must go to the most desperate of measures to raise the money to buy back the ill-considered prose: agreeing to an old wager posed by the arrogant, dangerous Duke of Penthurst. At least Penthurst is a man she wouldn't mind fleecing--and she's confident she'll win.

Penthurst long ago concluded Lydia was a woman in search of ruinous adventure, but even he is surprised when she arrives at his house ready to bet her innocence against his ten thousand pounds a wager he only proposed to warn her off gambling.

When she loses to a simple draw of the cards, Lydia is shocked. Now, her problems are twofold: a blackmailer determined to see her pay and a duke determined to tame her rebellious ways. One misstep and Lydia could find herself ruined - or bound to the seductive man who would make her his duchess.

Madeline Hunter: Counterfeit mistress

Madeline Hunterin historiallisessa viihderomaanissa leikitellään Englannin ja Ranskan välisellä vakoiluteemalla: Counterfeit mistress (Jove Books, 2014; ISBN 978-0-515-15138-1).



Hunterin teksti on paikoitellen töksähtelevää, viimeistelemättömän oloista, mutta tarinaa hän osaa kuitenkin pyörittää kohtalaisen mallikkaasti, ja rakastavaisten onnen tiellä on luonnollisesti iso määrä karikkoja ja esteitä.

Spy hunter Alban Norwood, Viscount Kendale, tries to resist his attraction to French refugee Marielle Lyon, whom he is convinced is a spy, while Marielle is willing to make use of his interest in her to help save her father.

Madeline Hunter: The conquest of Lady Cassandra

Madeline Hunterin viihderomaanissa on monenlaista käännettä, ja vehkeilyä riittää isossa määrin ennen kuin onnellinen loppu häämöttää: The conquest of Lady Cassandra (Jove Books, 2013; ISBN 978-0-515-15111-4).



Teoksessa on dekkarin aineksia leivottu mukaan historialliseen rakkausromaaniin, ja vaikka lopputulos on osittain muotopuoli, on teoksessa pirteää omaperäisyyttäkin.

As headstrong as she is beautiful, Lady Cassandra Vernham defied convention when she refused to marry the man who had compromised her. Now, estranged from her family, Cassandra struggles to make ends meet. A recent auction of her jewels has brought her a modicum of relief, but one of the most valuable lots was never paid for by the highest bidder: handsome, rakish Viscount Ambury. Cassandra needs that money badly, and not to buy a new hat.

Ambury has only to look at Cassandra to begin imagining her in his bed. He has not settled that outstanding debt for a reason. He suspects that the expensive baubles were stolen, perhaps even by Cassandra herself. Erotic fantasies about her notwithstanding, the vixen is not to be trusted, for she has already destroyed his good friend--the man she refused to marry who later lost his life in a duel, which Ambury suspects was fought over Cassandra. But nothing is as it seems.

As the seductive lord and the scandalous beauty are drawn together, the passion that flares between them will illuminate shocking secrets that will change both their lives forever.

Madeline Hunter: The surrender of Miss Fairbourne

Madeline Hunterin historiallinen viihderomaani kertoo huutokauppatalosta, jota Emma Fairbourne pyörittää, ja haluaisi jatkaa myös isän kuoleman jälkeen: The surrender of Miss Fairbourne (Jove Books, 2012; ISBN 978-0-515-15046-9).



Teos aloittaa neliosaisen Fairbourne-romaanisarjan. Viihteellisyyttä on paikoin äitelyyteen asti, mutta toisaalta kerronnassa on omaperäisyyttäkin, eikä historiallinen aikakausi ole ihan hukassa.

A woman running a prestigious London auction house? Preposterous! But that is exactly what Emma Fairbourne intends to do when her father dies, leaving her the reins of this fabulous enterprise. Of course, she is not addlepated enough to do this openly and scare away her wealthy collectors. So she and her friend concoct a deception, hiring a handsome and charming front man who will do her bidding.

All would have proceeded smoothly--if it weren't for the maddening interference of Darius, the arrogant Earl of Southwaite, who has been her father's "silent partner" and now shares ownership of Fairbourne's. An earl, of course, has no interest in running an auction house--and Darius is certainly not interested in allowing the lovely Miss Fairbourne to run it either, her ludicrous scheme notwithstanding. Clearly the business must be sold.

But the headstrong Emma is like no other lady he has ever encountered, refusing to follow his dictates. Holding his temper in check, Darius decides to attack on a different front. There is another way to achieve her surrender, one far more pleasurable for both of them.