Blackstone and the Endgame

by Sally Spencer

Overview

December, 1916. Inspector Sam Blackstone is suspicious when he is called to the office of Superintendent Brigham – the new head of special branch – and confused that Brigham seems to want to see him as little as Sam himself wishes to be there. An already stranger situation grows more strange when Sam discovers what he’s there for: a German traitor wants £25,000 in exchange for secret intelligence on U-boat locations, and ‘Max’ has specifically asked for Blackstone to be the one to deliver the money – alone.

Blackstone, and his sergeant, Archie Patterson, are certain there’s more to it than that, but Blackstone can’t turn down the job – if he doesn’t do it, some other poor fool will have to. But that is little comfort when, as suspected, it all goes wrong, and Blackstone finds himself on the run from his own colleagues, with Patterson languishing in a cell, looking at a twenty year stretch, if he’s lucky . . .

A chance meeting with a Russian former colleague seems to provide a lifeline, but his help comes at a cost . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780727882899
Publisher:	Severn House Publishers
Publication date:	10/01/2013
Series:	A Sam Blackstone Mystery Series , #10
Edition description:	First World Publication
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Sally Spencer worked as a teacher both in England and Iran - where she witnessed the fall of the Shah. She now lives in Spain and writes full-time. She is an almost fanatical mah jong player.

Editorial Reviews

09/09/2013
More action than detective story, Spencer’s 10th mystery featuring Insp. Sam Blackstone (after 2012’s Blackstone and the Great War) starts better than it finishes. A prologue dated December 16, 1916, finds the Scotland Yarder on the run and reduced to fighting for survival as a London street person. The main narrative, which opens a week earlier, reveals how Blackstone got into this fix. The new head of Special Branch, Superintendent Brigham, tells Blackstone to deliver £25,000 in cash to a German known only as Max in exchange for information on U-boats. Max has asked for Blackstone by name, and he’s forbidden Blackstone to have any backup. As Blackstone fears, the exchange late one night at a London dockyard doesn’t come off as planned. Now a fugitive, Blackstone embarks on an unlikely journey that reunites him with a Russian spy from a previous outing. The introduction of a notorious historical figure doesn’t increase the plot’s plausibility. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

2013-10-01
International intrigue takes its toll on Inspector Sam Blackstone (Blackstone and the Great War, 2012, etc.). The Special Branch doesn't often take much interest in the affairs of Scotland Yard. So Blackstone is astonished and not a little apprehensive when Branch Superintendent Brigham selects him to meet a shadowy informant called Max and exchange an attaché case full of currency for the German Navy's secret submarine plans. Naturally, it's a trap. Max disappears with the cash, leaving Blackstone holding the proverbial bag. His pudgy sergeant, Archie Patterson, springs the inspector from jail but lands in the hoosegow himself. Next thing he knows, Blackstone's spirited away to St. Petersburg by Vladimir, an old comrade at arms, to spend his days near Nevsky Prospekt playing with model trains and waiting for his friend to reveal what nefarious plot he's hatching. They go club-hopping with members of the royal family and cross paths with a mystic named Rasputin. Blackstone also infiltrates a strike planned by factory workers while he's serving as bodyguard to Vladimir's beautiful young agent, Tanya. Meanwhile, Archie, out on six days' remand, scours London looking for the elusive Max with no official standing and only the help of Ellie Carr, a forensic pathologist and Blackstone's sometime lover. Packed with portents, Blackstone's ninth takes a nicely shaped puzzle and inflates it until it's as gassy as one of the Kaiser's zeppelins.

Kirkus Reviews

Spencer has outdone herself in this latest Blackstone adventure... it’s a gripping page-turner that will appeal to a wide range of fans

Booklist Starred Review

Spencer has outdone herself in this latest Blackstone adventure...  it’s a gripping page-turner that will appeal to a wide range of fans.”
Booklist Starred Review of  Blackstone and the Endgame

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