A Spider in the Cup
Review: Assistant Commissioner Joe Sandilands is brought in when a small group of people searching for metal along the banks of the Thames in June 1933 do indeed find a gold coin — in the mouth of a young woman's corpse — in A Spider in the Cup, the eleventh mystery in this series by Barbara Cleverly.
Joe must juggle his investigation with another assignment, protecting US Senator Cornelius Kingstone, one of President Roosevelt's closest advisors, who is in England to attend the World Economic Conference. This even though Kingstone has brought his own man for protection, Bill Armitage, an ex-British Army FBI agent who once reported to Sandilands. Agreeing to make the best of an awkward situation, the two men work together when Kingstone's lover is reported missing. Realizing he has an unidentified body in the morgue, Joe wonders if she is the missing woman. As Sandilands and Armitage race to identify a killer, they soon realize that it is the Senator's life that is imminently in danger.
As is typical of the books in this series, A Spider in the Cup is an intriguing mix of history and murder mystery. The time frame of the book, during the Great Depression, forms a backdrop to the storyline, one that includes world leaders pondering the controversial topic of rearming Germany as a means to work their way back towards prosperity. Joe Sandilands remains the strong, compassionate hero at the center of it all. His relationship with Bill Armitage makes for a good contrast in both style and effort, though both are committed to their duty to their respective governments. Another solid entry in this series, one definitely worth seeking out.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of A Spider in the Cup.
Acknowledgment: Soho Press provided an ARC of A Spider in the Cup for this review.
Review Copyright © 2013 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author … Not My Blood Soho Crime (Hardcover), August 2012 ISBN-13: 9781616951542; ISBN-10: 1616951540 Enter Pale Death Soho Crime (Hardcover), December 2014 ISBN-13: 9781616954086; ISBN-10: 1616954086
Location(s) referenced in A Spider in the Cup: London, England
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A Spider in the Cup by Barbara Cleverly — A Joe Sandilands Mystery
Publisher: Soho Crime
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-1-61695-288-4
Publication Date: August 2013
List Price: $26.95
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Page Author: Lance Wright Site Publisher: Mysterious Reviews
Mysterious Reviews is a Division of The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and a Business Unit of the Omnimystery Family of Mystery Websites
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