- Hardcover: 128 pages
- Publisher: Harbour Books Ltd (1 Aug 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1905128118
- ISBN-13: 978-1905128112
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.6 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,199,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
"Sly, enigmatic and beguiling. With the ingenuity of Sherlock
Holmes and the tact of Jeeves, Verdon James disentangles even the knottiest
of problems. The blend of fiction and historical fact is so alluringly
plausible that one begins to wonder if he is entirely imaginary. Anyone who
enjoyed William Boyd's Restless will love The Discreet Interventions of
Verdon James." Francis Wheen
Holmes and the tact of Jeeves, Verdon James disentangles even the knottiest
of problems. The blend of fiction and historical fact is so alluringly
plausible that one begins to wonder if he is entirely imaginary. Anyone who
enjoyed William Boyd's Restless will love The Discreet Interventions of
Verdon James." Francis Wheen
From the Publisher
When the great and good find themselves in desperate
situations, they turn to Oxford man, Verdon James. His oblique intelligence
and penetrating insights have come to their rescue more times than he has
ever cared to remember - until now.
situations, they turn to Oxford man, Verdon James. His oblique intelligence
and penetrating insights have come to their rescue more times than he has
ever cared to remember - until now.
Here he recalls some of his most memorable interventions: the resurrection
of the dead to save an ancestral estate, his elegant riposte to blackmail,
a campaign of deception in World War II (which continued to deceive inside
the walls of Spandau long after VE), his first youthful introduction to the
world of espionage and, many years later, his journey to Smolensk where he
stumbles upon the truth about the Dark Blue spies who kept their secrets -
if not their country's - rather longer than their Cambridge counterparts.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A most discreet investigator,
This review is from: The Discreet Interventions of Verdon James (Hardcover)
Part detective, part spy and socialite, the kind of acquaintance you call on in times of crisis, Verdon James is a wholly individual creation. He is unmatched for affability and loyalty, has a great line in self-deprecation, but is dogged and unstoppable once he has found his strategy and is set upon his path. Nevertheless, Julian Roach never allows his literate, intelligent hero to appear smug or sanctimonious. Verdon James makes mistakes, regrets past errors of judgment in life and in love, and along the way he makes you laugh in a way no infallible smarty-pants detective ever could. When an adversary adopts, in hiding in France, the name Palmer- derived from a fine chateau wine- Verdon James counters by calling himself M. Leoville-Bartin. He remarks to the reader as he arrives at the door of his enemy's hideout that "it seemed to me that when a second growth St. Julien called on a third growth Margaux, someone would be pretty much obliged to come to the door."
Verdon James' adventures are often woven around real life events, based on an eclectic reading of 20th century European affairs and history. The background to his adventures is impressively traced like those of a more straight down the line storyteller like Robert Harris, but in this reader's view, Roach conjures up more memorable and engaging characters. Again unlike other contemporary adventure/ detective writers, his attitude to narrative is agreeably relaxed and ruminative, which means these discreet interventions probably won't turn out to have the ingredients for an airport best seller. If Mr. James does not seem to you by now a good prospect as a dinner companion or confidante, better give this book a miss. I thought it a delight, and Verdon a creation of real originality. He will remind some readers of the classic English gentleman spy, but he's more will-o'-the-wisp, like somebody remarkable you once encountered but didn't really get to know, and whose memory haunts you still.
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