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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9781933397337
ISBN number: 1933397330
Label: Felony & Mayhem
Manufacturer: Felony & Mayhem
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 240
Printing Date: April 15, 2006
Publishing house: Felony & Mayhem
Sale Popularity Level: 173629
Studio: Felony & Mayhem
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Product Description:
Molly Keatley is deeply contented with her life, her loving husband, her comfortable home in an attractive London suburb. Things are so pleasant, in fact, that they’re ever so slightly boring, but that changes abruptly one bright September morning, when her husband comes rushing home, mutters a hasty, unexplained apology . . . and disappears. Minutes later, two strange men arrive with news that her husband is in fact a Soviet spy, and that the sleepy joys of her marriage have acted as a cover for years of personal and public betrayal. Her husband, it appears, has spent nearly a decade using her for his own purposes, and now the British intelligence service want to use her for theirs. It would be so easy to give in, to back away from the conspiracies and intrigues that suddenly loom in front of her. But the shock of Sam’s betrayal has woken Molly out of her long, complacent dream, and she is no longer prepared to be anybody’s pawn.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
Molly is the most surprised of anyone to find that her husband is suspected of being a spy. As she, and the government's investigator, discover, there is far more going on than meets the eye. Another reviewer mentions that this is a character study, and it is, sort of...but so well done, with facts and suspicions unraveled in a so cohesive and engaging way that the reader does not easily guess the subsequent step. Molly doubts her marriage, herself and her ability to interpret the world --as though the image in the mirror shakes and wavers, only to find that the reflection contains more depth than originally imagined. I, too, love the Daizel(sp?) and Pascoe mystery series. I was ready to suspect that Reginald Hill would fall on his face outside of his series (as Peter Lovesey does outside of the Diamond series). Not so. Hill is skilled, sensitive to character, never forgets plot and draws his reader along with clues and sidebars that make any mystery more than a puzzle. All of his books are character driven, and this one more than most. The denouement is a bit predictable, but the process of getting there completely enjoyable. While some of Hill's books suit more than others, none of them disappoint more than a star's worth (on Amazon's scale). So far, all of Hill's work that I have read have been worth the read.
Rated by buyers -
Hill got me immediately into the head of Molly, and I stayed there for the three days it took me to read this book. From complacent housewife to liberated woman, but always the spy's wife, Molly is a pleasure. When confronted with her journalist husband's treachery, she falls apart, goes into denial but not completely. There's a down-to-earth, unflappable even unemotional North English core that copes in the face of adversity. She goes home to her parents, but that isn't what it seems, either. She confronts, accepts, rejects, abandons her ex-fiance and stands in for her mother while her mother and father confront the mother's life-threatening illness. All at the same time, she's watched and even hounded by a British Secret Service agent whom she comes to respect, if not love. Molly is her mother's daughter, and her forcefulness and her resolution come through as she is confronted again and again with her husband's betrayals, both personal and political.
While Molly's story is wonderful, there is a glitch. The obnoxious reporter and the American woman don't quite ring true. They seem to have no other purpose than to goad Molly--and they do that--but, as characters, they appear flat. They lack believable motivation, and they created annoyance, not tension. Beyond this weakness, however, the book is an excellent, enjoyable read, and Molly has resonance even after the finish.
Rated by buyers -
"The Spy's Wife" is ostensibly a mystery story, but it turns out to be more of a character study--with the subject of the title front and center throughout. This turns the piece into something more than a typical Cold War espionage potboiler. The novel's focus is on Molly Keatley, the badly betrayed wife of an alleged British turncoat, who evolves from a relatively passive soul at the moment of her betrayal into an angry, anything-but-passive woman by the end of the book. The story moves to a surprising and highly creative ending.
There is much humour and wisdom in this very enjoyable book. Highly recommended.
Rated by buyers -
I'm a huge fan of the Dalziel & Pascoe series, so this just didn't do it for me. But it was light and fun and very surprising at the end! And, as always, wonderfully written---he is such a great writer! I did enjoy it---just not overmuch.
Rated by buyers -
This is an older mystery by Reginald Hill, set in the days of the Cold War. Highly readable with good characters and an enjoyable plot.
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