December 7, 2009
The prolonged and intense Axis bombing of Malta and the British efforts to deliver squadrons of new Spitfire fighters in aid of the strategic Mediterranean island's defense provide the dramatic backdrop for Mills's WWII spy thriller. Maj. Max Chadwick negotiates a narrow path feeding info via his weekly bulletin in the Maltese newspaper Il-Berqa
, putting a positive spin on Malta's depressing situation, and seeking to separate rumor from fact. When Chadwick learns that a British submariner may be a serial killer targeting “sherry queens” (e.g., “dance hostesses who worked the bars and bawdy music halls” in the capital city's disreputable quarter), he has to consider carefully what to reveal. If the murders become public, they could tip the precarious balance of local support against the British. Mills (Amagansett
) paints a vivid portrait of a tenacious people, embattled and besieged troops, and a principled man trying to resolve the conflict between duty and justice.
Starred review from November 1, 2009
It's Malta, 1942, and the Germans are battering the small, strategic island in an effort to dominate the Mediterranean theater. Max Chadwick is the RAF morale and information officer charged with maintaining the fragile esprit de corps of the island's woefully underresourced British contingent and feeding the local press with cautiously optimistic updates on the war effort. The bombings are relentless, and life is perilous. The eternal promises of new planes and reinforcements ring hollow. When a young Maltese woman is murdered and local investigation points to a British serviceman, Chadwick must walk a tightrope to preserve the peace with the locals, the cohesion of the local British forces, and his own career. VERDICT Once again, Mills ("Amagansett; Savage Garden") has crafted a story filled with rich history, tension, and characters whose frailties and strengths move the plot along at a taut and satisfying pace. World War II fiction readers will love it, and mystery fans will find much to pique their interest as well. Strongly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 10/1/09.]Susan Clifford Braun, Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, CA
Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
December 15, 2009
Mills is as versatile as he is talented. His first novel, Amagansett (2004), starred a Basque fisherman on Long Island; he followed that with The Savage Garden (2007), about an art historian investigating a murder in Renaissance Tuscany. Now he turns to World War II and the siege of Malta, that dust-blown lump of limestone in the middle of the Mediterranean on which the Germans dumped more bombs in two months than London received in the worst year of the Blitz. As the bombs rain down, British information officer Max Chadwick faces a dilemma: Should he cover up the fact that a serial killer who preys on exotic dancers may well be a navy manand possibly one who serves aboard a submarine captained by Chadwicks mistress? Like James Benn in his Billy Boyle series, Mills makes excellent use of a lesser-known aspect of WWII, but unlike Benn, he is a fine stylist as well as a storyteller, enabling him to bring a remarkable degree of eloquence and emotional depth to his material. As historical fiction, as mystery, and as love story, this one hits on all cylinders.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)