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The Smoke
Tony Broadbent
#UB6592
Paperback, 423 pages; 2005 (2002)
$8.90
Bas Bleu is proud to offer fourteen novels published by Felony & Mayhem, specialists in saving classic, plot-driven mysteries from extinction! Publisher Maggie Topkis has selected these titles especially for Bas Bleu's readers. She's written most of the reviews on these four pages. Look for her initials (MT) to see why she likes what she likes!
England endured a lot during the War, but making it through peacetime had its serious challenges, too. The Smoke opens in the freezing winter of 1947: the government has rationed everything, from bread and butter to soap and socks. "Mustn't grumble" is the general response, but Jethro takes a different approach: he becomes the best cat-burglar in London. He's also one of the most appealing protagonists to come around in a while—deeply patriotic, a proud Cockney to the core, and with his own, entirely original, morality. The Smoke has a terrific plot, and an irresistible period feel. Jethro's world—the music halls, the nightclubs, the pubs and chip shops—is brought vividly to life. Broadbent based Jethro and his mates (though not, perhaps, their exploits) on his own father and his mates, and the love and respect he has for his characters—for all the Londoners of those tough times—rings out like Big Ben. It may be about a jewel thief, it may have what has been called "one of the most suspenseful openings in the history of crime-fiction," but at heart, The Smoke is Tony Broadbent's tribute to England's Greatest Generation.
(MT)
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