MR. CALDER AND MR. BEHRENS

by Michael Gilbert ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1982

Twelve stories, published originally in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (19671981), and featuring Gilbert's gentlemanly British spies--whom it's not always easy to tell apart. (The main difference between these two quite faceless gents is that Calder is the one who travels with Rasselas, a Persian wolfhound.) Among the Calder/Behrens missions: exposing well-placed Lady Lefroy as a spy; figuring out if a scientist is leaking secrets via his columns on bridge; infiltrating a peace-movement that is being programmed by subversives; tracing a mad rumor about imminent nuclear war with China; defusing a charismatic preacher who's the dupe of yet more ""subversives""; preventing a crazie from bombing the Houses of Parliament; unmasking a mole; digging up Nazi secrets; and foiling an IRA assassin. True, few of the stories are plausible--and the humor is sometimes dry to the point of invisibility. But, for those who enjoy leisurely, literate espionage vignettes: a tidy assortment.

Pub Date: April 1, 1982

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1982

Categories: FICTION