The Moon-spinners by Mary Stewart

Reviewed by Jeanne

Englishwoman Nicola Ferris has been working in Greece for a year, but now is on holiday in Crete.  Her cousin, an avid naturalist, is coming to visit her and the two plan to do a lot of hiking to look for various local flora.  On her walk to the hotel, Nicola is distracted by the sight of an egret flying nearby.  She follows it, and discovers (or more accurately, is discovered by) a Greek man and an injured Englishman who are hiding in the hills.  They warn her off, telling her to go on to her inn and forget she’s ever seen them.

She does the former, but of course not the latter. She’s determined to help both men. The question is, who can she trust?

The Moon-spinners is considered one of Stewart’s best known works.  It certainly has all her mystery trademarks: wonderfully detailed, evocative descriptions of a foreign land, a strong and resourceful heroine, lots of suspense and a touch of romance.   Even though the book was published in 1962, it doesn’t seem dated at all--no cell phones, of course, and a bit more smoking than is usual in contemporary novels. Otherwise, there was nothing to suggest it wasn’t a recent book.  

I also like the smooth way Stewart explains her heroines’ talents.  In this book, for example, Nicola has been working in Greece, which explains why she is fairly fluent in Greek.  The islanders assume she only speaks English and she is clever enough to let them continue to think that.

I have to say that while I liked this one a good deal, I still prefer My Brother Michael.  The setting is similar but somehow it appealed to me more. I think part of it has to do with childhood memories: back in the day, Disney made a movie based on the book, starring child actress Hayley Mills.  Mills was a good bit younger than Nicola—a teen, in fact—so the story was re-written to suit.  I remember seeing the movie, split into episodes for the weekly Disney TV show, and was unimpressed.  It was certainly no Scarecrow from Romney Marsh (ah, Patrick McGoohan!) and I found it boring.  While the book was certainly not boring, I did pause at intervals, remembering little bits from the movie—primarily the windmills, which figure into the plot.

In short, this is a very good romantic suspense novel with a wonderful exotic location and well developed characters.  I’ll be reading more Mary Stewart novels in the future.

Mrs. Pargeter’s Public Relations by Simon Brett

Reviewed by Jeanne

Mrs. Pargeter is a very wealthy widow who harbors no illusions about the reason she receives so many invitations: there are always those who wish to part her from some of that wealth.  She can be quite generous, providing the charities measure up to her standards, or if the cause in question concerns some of her late husband’s employees, all of whom are still exceedingly loyal to his widow.

It’s the latter reason that finds Mrs. Pargeter at a charity ball—something she detests, often paying NOT to attend such events—for a cat rescue, animals being another thing of little interest to Mrs. P.  However, Jasmine Angold, a recent widow of one of Mr. Pargeter’s most trusted employees, wants to attend so off they go. It’s there that she meets a woman who is her late husband’s sister—or so she claims. It’s quite a surprise, but then Mr. Pargeter was (as she puts it) quite economical with facts, believing they should be issued on a “need to know basis.”

After all, one can’t be successfully questioned by the police about things one knows nothing about.

A murder after the charity ball has Mrs. Pargeter consulting her husband’s little black book to solve the case and prevent a scoundrel from sullying Mr. Pargeter’s reputation.

This was my first foray into the world of Mrs. Pargeter and it will not be the last.  I was assured that I did not have to read the books in order and I had no trouble keeping up with this one.  Simon Brett’s writing is a delight. His characters are vivid and entertaining. Mrs. Pargeter herself is elegant, intelligent, and resourceful with a strong sense of duty to her husband’s employees, all of whom are unfailingly devoted to her.  

 Brett also has a dry, straight-faced sense of humor and a turns a fine phrase, such as:

“Suicides may deal efficiently with the actual process of killing, but they very rarely manage to bury themselves after their deaths in shallow graves in Epping Forest (which is, incidentally, London’s go-to destination for the burying of bodies in shallow graves.)”

Brett has earned numerous awards for his writing, including a Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association. If you like British humor and mysteries, then you’ll find Simon Brett a treat. 

My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart

Reviewed by Jeanne

Camilla Haven, a young Englishwoman, is taking a long anticipated vacation in Greece when a man approaches her about a car she has hired “for Simon” in Delphi. The problem is that she hasn’t hired a car, but the man drops the keys on the table and disappears before she can explain his mistake. Camilla had just been lamenting in a letter to a friend that she wanted to see Delphi but was running low on funds, so she decides to take the car to Delphi in hopes she can locate this Simon and perhaps do some sight-seeing in the bargain.  The only Simon she finds is also English, and a man on a mission.  His older brother Michael was killed in Greece during the war and he has come to find from Michael’s Greek friends the place where his brother died. It soon becomes apparent that while the war may be over, there are those who still have scores to settle.

Mary Stewart was one of the pioneers in the romantic suspense genre during the 1950s. As a long time mystery fan, I was ashamed to say that I had not read any of Mary Stewart’s work except for her Arthurian novels.  I set out to remedy that oversight, albeit with some trepidation.  Would the books seem hopelessly dated?

I found that her reputation as an author of romantic suspense is well deserved.  The romance is strong while understated —more attraction than action—but she keeps the balance between the two aspects, romance and suspense. The suspense builds slowly, but there are some breathtaking scenes that actually had me holding my breath. The fact that Stewart can create so much tension with so little carnage was a welcome surprise; and proof, if anyone needed it, that gory descriptions aren’t necessary to make a thriller. 

Stewart's novels tended to feature modern thinking, intelligent, and brave young women who were able to take care of themselves in a crisis. They didn’t seek out trouble but held their nerve when trouble found them.  Her characters would be perfectly at home in any novel written today, and would be a good bit more level-headed and less neurotic than most.

Another of Stewart’s hallmarks is her ability to evoke an exotic locale, and My Brother Michael is an excellent example.  She describes the bustle of the streets, the sounds and smells of the market, the wild landscapes, and the ruins in vivid detail, and it all serves to enhance rather than bog down the story.  Even though the book was written some sixty years ago, the story is still vibrant; the details that fix the time period (WW II is only a few years in the past, there is much unapologetic smoking and drinking) don’t date the story for modern audiences. Any geopolitical details aren’t specific enough to make the plot seem archaic.

One thing I loved is that several of the characters have had a classical British education: they can quote from the Greek playwrights and philosophers, discuss architecture and poetry, and take note of the natural world, naming flowers and trees.  They can also drive cars really fast and hold their own in a fight, so don’t think it’s all Homer and heliotropes.

I still have several of her books to read, including what is arguably her best known suspense book, The Moon-spinners.  I’m looking forward to them!