A Death In Cornwall, Silva - A*

                  This is the 24th in the Gabriel Allon series, and the 14th to appear on this blog. By my estimate, Gabriel is well into his seventies and thankfully, is retired from the Mossad. He lives in Venice and restores Old Masters. He is called to Cornwall by an old friend who is investigating the murder, presumably by a serial killer, of an Oxford professor. Both the detective and Gabriel conclude that the serial killer angle is a misdirection. The professor, an expert on wartime art provenance, was likely killed because of her investigation of the past of a Picasso in a Geneva gallery. The painting was owned by a Parisian Jew who perished in Auschwitz. When the grandson of the owner falls down the stairs in Montmartre, their suspicions are confirmed.

                 Gabriel decides he must recover the Picasso for the family and help solve the murder. An intricate plan follows. He will have a wealthy friend swap six of her late father's collection for the Picasso. As Gabriel will paint the six pictures, it is also necessary to hire an established art consultant and a provenance specialist. All goes well until the day of the transfer, when the killers murder the Geneva dealer and steal the Picasso. Now, Gabriel must follow, find and dispose of the killer. His trek takes him to Paris, Cannes, Marseilles, Corsica, and Monte Carlo.

               He ascertains that the killer is the head of security for a corrupt British law firm in Monaco and he hatches a plan to out the law firm while catching the killer. Along the way, he uncovers an amazing amount of corruption at the top of the Tory Party in Britain. Gabriel's team's investigation and the information they uncover leads to the downfall of a British government, the return of the Picasso, and the death of the killer. Another excellent book in one of the four series I've been following for decades. Gabriel Allon though, upon reflection, surpasses my other favorites, Ian Rutledge, Jack Reacher and even Harry Bosch. Thus, the grade is in the nature of a lifetime achievement award.

Hapsburgs on the Rio Grande: The Rise and Fall of the Second Mexican Empire, Jonas - B +

                This superb history views the Second Mexican Empire as "a unique position from which to understand the globally destabilizing effect of US encroachment under the guise of Manifest Destiny." The story is rooted in "European astonishment at unrelenting US expansion." When the Civil War broke out, European powers led by France declared Mexico's loans in default and invaded. They proclaimed they were protecting Latin America from the predatory US. 

              When  the Louisiana Purchase was followed by the mid-century annexation of Texas and the taking of the western half of the continent from Mexico, Europeans were alarmed at the  growth and ambition of America. Catholic France was perceived to be the bastion to protect "Latin peoples against Anglo-Saxon aggression."  France invaded in late 1861 intending to establish a monarchy. The fact that no one other than a handful of Mexican elites wanted a change in government did not faze the French. At the first battle, Puebla, Mexico handily defeated the invaders. France sent over close to 40,000 reinforcements in the next year. Puebla fell in the spring of 1863. The Juarez government fled Mexico City before the French occupation. As the French extended their power north, the Archduke Maximilian was offered the throne. 

               Napoleon III left nothing to chance, honoring and flattering Maximilian and his wife Charlotte in Paris for a week. "Paris was the apogee of the Mexican Empire." There was no enthusiasm for the venture in London or Vienna, and the US House passed a resolution opposing the monarchy. Nonetheless, the royal couple arrived in Veracruz on May 28, 1864 with a 400 page draft of protocols for managing their court. They were warmly received in the capital and for a time "things went their way." Maximilian's first major challenge was the Catholic Church's insistence on a restoration of its property and a reinstatement of its primacy in Mexico. He refused to succumb to their demands. In the summer of 1866, imperial forces began to lose skirmishes, then battles, then entire regions in the north of the country to resurgent republican troops. The French began to evacuate. US diplomacy made it clear that it was totally opposed to the monarchy. Charlotte went to Paris to plead for more French assistance, but was rebuffed by Napoleon III. A visit to the pope was also to no avail.  She returned to her palace near Trieste in declining health. 

            That fall, Maximilian began to consider abdication. Instead, he proclaimed his desire to stay and transform the empire to a purely Mexican entity after the French left. The emperor went north to the city of Quereatro to join his army, but was surrounded and besieged by republican forces. It was soon over and the emperor was a prisoner. Maximilian and two of his generals were tried and sentenced to death. On June 19th, they faced a firing squad.

          Maximilian's remains were embalmed and returned to Vienna. A memorial chapel in his honor was dedicated in Quereatro in 1904. "In death, Maximilian lent himself to the purposes of others just as he did in life. Time, architecture, and memorial masses celebrated every year on the anniversary of the execution reinvented the empire. Chapel and ritual elevated the empire of vanity to a sacred plane where it became a redemptive sacrifice and a triumph over death." This is a very wellwritten and wondrously short history that has taught me about something that I knew virtually nothing about.

The Granite Coast Murders, Bannalec - B

               Commissaire Georges Dupin is on a two week vacation on a lovely Breton beach with his Parisian amour Claire. He is bored beyond belief and desperate for something to do. An assault is made on a local politician, and body is found in the local quarry. Raring to go, Georges is restrained by his administrative assistant, Claire, and the local gendarmes. His inquiries are subtle, and hopefully, unnoticed. Although Claire had enthusiastically designed this vacation and she too had eschewed any work responsibilities, she has been surreptitiously speaking to the clinic where she is a cardiologist. Another body is found near the quarry. With the help of his hotelier, whose niece is a policewoman, Georges solves the case, hands it off to the local police and returns to his holiday.  The second week is a resounding success.  What we learn about Brittany in this book is that there are vast sections of the coast with a unique pink granite for miles.

The Princess of Las Vegas, Bohjalian - C

                  Crissy has a really good gig at a second tier casino. She sells out two shows a night, five days per week in her permanent residency performing as Princess Di. Over the course of a few days, her world falls apart as the two owners of her casino commit 'suicide,' her sister shows up in town, and a fella she just met falls from a cliff outside of town. Some very bad men are after her workplace, her sister and her. As this author has written some great page-turners, this is a real disappointment.

Pitch Dark, Doiron - B+

                 This is another excellent novel in this series. Mike Bowditch flies almost to Quebec to check in on someone who he believes is being pursued by a bounty hunter. The man calmly offers Mike a cup of coffee that is doped, and Mike awakes tied up and disarmed. He then pursues the man and his daughter to the border and although he commits a crime by crossing over, he accomplishes so much that all is forgiven. 

Rain Dogs, McKinty - B+

                  In the fifth in the series, Sean Duffy is assigned a pretty straightforward suicide to investigate. A young woman journalist from London has jumped from the top of the oldest castle in Northern Ireland. The live-in gatekeeper does not know how she evaded his closing search, but he found her in the keep in the morning. Suicide it is until Sean notices her shoes are on the wrong feet. He and Sgt. McCrabbin begin the investigation. There was a Finnish business delegation at the castle that day, and they were escorted by a former policeman now in the security business. Their stories don't add up and Duffy knows he's on to something when an attempt is made on his life. Another great cruise around the Troubles in the late 1980's that ends on a high note with Duffy taking his pregnant girlfriend to the hospital to deliver their daughter.

Everest, Inc.:The Renegades and Rogues who Built An Industry at the Top Of The World, Cockrell - B

                In the forty years after Hillary's first summit, 349 people climbed Everest. In the past three decades, over 11,000 have. Ninety percent of the recent summiteers were clients of a handful of mountain-guiding companies. Seventy percent of climbers reach the summit compared to ten percent before the guiding companies began. This is the story of how the change took place.

               In 1985, 55 year-old Texas oilman Dick Bass summited Everest on his fourth try. He was the first to achieve the Seven Summits and an amateur who paid professionals to help him. His success inspired a new approach to mountaineering. A year later, a company was offering guided trips to all seven summits. Guiding on Everest would prove to be a challenge because it is very easy for people to die in the death zone above 26,000 feet. Hypoxia, high altitude pulmonary or cerebral edema are very real risks.  And guides, by definition are supposed to stick with their customers. "By 1990, most experienced Himalayan climbers would agree that the list of veteran mountain guides with the experience, nerves, and logistic prowess to pull off an Everest climb could probably fit in a fortune cookie." However in the spring of 1992, "eight average Joes" were the first guided to the summit. Guiding amateurs to the top was possible and soon the business boomed.

               "The percentage of expeditions on Everest that were guided had gone from zero in 1989 to about forty in 1995." Everyone was proud that there had been no casualties. The following year that would change. Rob Hall was a noted New Zealand alpinist and the most successful guide on the mountain. His 1996 trip included Jon Krakauer, a journalist working for 'Outside' magazine. On May 10th, approximately 33 climbers guided by two different companies made the attempt. Hall and handful of his clients summited at 1:45 pm, a quarter of an hour before the agreed upon turnaround time. Hall did not stick to the turnaround time, summited with his final client at 4 pm, and was  then notified by base camp that a storm was coming in. Eight people died that day including Hall. Krakauer's award-wining magazine article was called 'Into Thin Air' as was his best-selling book.  Krakauer's writings piqued worldwide interest and an influx of technology soon allowed live streaming and sat calls from the mountain. In 1999, the discovery of Mallory's remains was flashed around the world.

           Soon, record numbers were climbing.The lead guide companies "had installed so many redundancies and systems, coopted so much technology, and hired an increasingly talented and well-trained Sherpa workforce, that they believed they could get just about anybody to the top." Better weather forecasting and a medical facility at the base camp helped. The Sherpa's were the backbone of the mountain climbing culture and were seldom recognized or paid handsomely for their death defying efforts every day. Many started their own guide companies. Approximately a decade ago, climate change began to affect the mountain. In 2014, an avalanche killed 16 Nepalis. The Sherpas refused to work and the 2014 season was shut down. The following year, an earthquake struck the base camp killing 19.

        The two tragedies reduced the number of western climbers and guides, and soon companies headed by Nepali's, Japanese and Indians were hosting more and more Asian clients. Also, a portion of the Hillary Step broke away, easing the path to the summit. A Nepali climbed the fourteen 8,000 meter peaks in seven months and captured the climbing world's attention. The guiding businesses expanded to the 8K peaks.  Today, it is a mostly Nepali owned business, and climbing the highest mountain on earth remains as enthralling, enticing, and beautiful as ever.

  

Hunted, Mukherjee - B

                 This an intriguing thriller written by a Scot of South Asian extraction whose first five books were police procedurals set in the 1920's Raj, focusing on racial issues. This novel is about a family of Londoners whose mom and dad fled Bangladesh. One of their daughters was caught up in a protest and rendered a vegetable at the hands of the US VP security team. Her sister, Aliyah, fled to the US to revenge her sister and to go to work for a group of domestic terrorists. But, things are not always what they seem. Perhaps a stream of terrorist activity promulgated by former special force officers in conjunction with rogue FBI agents just might put a right wing extremist in the White House. Plot turns, twists, and double dealing carry you along at a fast pace here.