Bluffing Mr. Churchill

Rating:
Summary: Lawton Is Now on My "A" List
Review: I began this series out of sequence with "Old Flames", a very clever 1950s spy thriller. This novel picks up Inspector Troy's career at an earlier stage, during WW II, but before the action of "Black Out". Though Troy doesn't get center stage, this is still an excellent story, with its fascinating picture of early 1940s London and the last few months before its two biggest players, the US and USSR, entered the war.

Recommended, in spite of a couple of others here thinking that a prior UK publication is grounds to knock a perfectly good novel.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: I have to disagree. That last review is so misleading. Yes this is "Riptide" but it's a US first edition. I know. I read the small print. Prior to this it' s only been available as an expensive British import and it deserves better than a 2 line dismissal. I've no idea why the title changed, but does that matter?
It's a stunning picture of the England just before The US and the Russians entered the war. London is a city under seige, short of everything from food to shoes. That alone is reason enough to buy the book - there've been lots of historical thrillers on this same subject, but this is the best. Beyond that ... what really hooked me was the characterisation. It would have been so easy to have the American GI paired to the London cop read like a cliche and it's about a hundred times better than that. They leap off the page at you, vivid,real and engaging. A five star read.

Rating:
Summary: Good on atmosphere, but the characters & plot didn't grab me
Review: I haven't read any of the other Inspector Troy novels; I picked up this one because the jacket's reviews were attractive. I realize now that the review excerpts focused on what I liked about the book (its terrific recreation of a time & place) and were silent on what didn't grab me (the characters & plot).

It's almost worth reading just for the "feel." This is what it must've been like to sit around the kitchen table of a middle-class London policeman in Spring of 1941.

But while the novel is literate and well-written, there's something distancing about it. I found Troy the less interesting and less sharply delineated of the two major characters (Troy and an American soldier, Cal Cormack), and Lawton spends much more time on Cormack. The spy / murder-mystery plot plays out without much momentum; better are the glimpses of the internal politics of the police force and diplomatic services.

I expect I'd like Bluffing Mr. Churchill much more if I already had some investment in the continuing characters. I doubt I'll hunt out the other books in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Vastly inferior to the earlier Inspector Troy books
Review: I liked Black Out and Old Flames, but this book just isn't worth the money. John Lawton ought to give me a free coupon to his next book--it HAS to be better.

Poor plot, very little time with Inspector Troy, and everybody and every situation is one-dimensional.

Re-read the earlier books and wait for your library to order this one.

Rating:
Summary: bluffin churchill is tricking buyer
Review: THIS BOOK IS A REPRINT OF 2001 PUBLICATION OF JOHN LAWTON'S "RIPTIDE" WHICH HAS BEEN AVAILABLE FOR SEVERAL YERS.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent historical novel
Review: This book was filled with atmosphere, humor, history and interesting characters. It was the first Insp. Troy novel that I read and John Lawton got me hooked from the get go. The characters are fully developed and different from your usual mystery characters. I am ready for much more from this author.

Rating:
Summary: DUPLICATION
Review: WARNING TO LAWTON FANS. THIS BOOK IS IDENTICAL TO "RIPTIDE."