|
The Spy's Wife
Reginald Hill
#UB4272
Paperback, 266 pages; 2006 (1980)
$8.90
A Mysterious Small Press…
In 1994, Maggie Topkis and four friends opened Partners & Crime—a mystery bookstore in New York's Greenwich Village—because they loved introducing customers to little-known gems in the genre. But increasingly, those gems were disappearing as publishers took titles out of print. So, Topkis decided to save her favorite mysteries from extinction and in 1995 she launched Felony & Mayhem Press. How does she choose what to publish? "We always start with the writing," she says. "Is it intelligent? Is it witty? Is it the voice of an author with whom you want to spend time? Most newly published mysteries are plot-driven—the characters get moved through the story like pieces on a chessboard. I know there are readers who are looking for a richer experience than that. And at Felony & Mayhem, we hope to provide it."
Bas Bleu is proud to offer six Felony & Mayhem titles that Maggie Topkis has selected especially for our readers. Read her recommendations, below, and you'll want all six!
The Spy's Wife is very much in the "novel with mystery elements" category. I often suggest it to people who loved Death in the Garden (see item # UA2562), even though the two plots appear to have nothing in common. Both books center around a woman who is challenged by circumstances to become much braver, stronger, and more responsible for her own situation than she has ever needed to be. Not to imply that The Spy's Wife is stickily uplifting, but it does have a wonderfully well-realized heroine (in early middle-age) who makes a distinct emotional journey.
(MT)
|
