Inspector Anders and the Ship of Fools

Publishers Weekly

Australian Browne's second mystery to feature the worn-at-the-edges Italian Interpol agent maintains the high standard set in The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders (2001). When 16 business executives die in what should have been an impossible-to-achieve explosion, Anders, who thought his fieldwork days were over, is sent to investigate. The Judgment Day group claims responsibility, threatening more murders if corporate Europe continues to pursue the large-scale mergers that are costing thousands of jobs across the continent a threat that the group follows through on with additional bizarre crimes. Even with such deadly danger looming over them, the viciously ambitious managing directors who are targeted refuse to delay their quest for profit. Anders is left to quickly sort through a trail of false clues, while at the same time fending off his own insecurities about his ability to cope with the rigors of his job. Using little more than his intuition, he follows "The Ship of Fools," an obscure 15th-century poem referenced in each of the Judgment Day's manifestos, to expose the mad ideologue responsible. This is not a high-action or even a particularly mysterious mystery (the reader will understand the clues long before the authorities ever do), but it is well worth getting to know the endearing, self-reflective Inspector Anders. Browne admirably conveys a feeling for all the characters, even the bit players. (July 15) FYI: The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders won Australia's Ned Kelly Award for best first crime novel in 1999. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Inspector Anders, the Interpol policeman who made his auspicious debut in The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders, tackles terrorists who are targeting business executives in Europe. Baited with clues from a 15th-century poem, Anders responds by using a knowledgeable librarian as lure. Good stuff. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The title refers not to Katherine Anne Porter but to snippets culled from a 15th-century manuscript and used by a terrorist cell, the Judgment Day group, to scare off impending mergers of megalithic international companies. And if the words aren't daunting enough, there are always explosives: they kill 16 directors of Germany's giant chemical companies, Chemex AG and Interdrug AG, which are contemplating a merger. Slowly but surely, other directors are eliminated, and when the case is farmed out to Rome's one-legged Inspector Anders and Detective Matucci, now assigned to Interpol's National Crime Bureau, they must battle not only the terrorists but competing European police jurisdictions as they hop from Strasbourg to Lyon to Frankfurt to Brussels. Swans are decapitated, statues are vandalized, and CEOs find that being sequestered in supposedly impenetrable rooms offers no protection from Judgment Day. Anders, meanwhile, consults Professor Lestang about his arcane knowledge of mesmerism and relies on a handsome librarian for her technical research. Conspiracies, chicanery, and distrust among politicians abound, but Anders and Matucci prevail with the help of perseverance and a well-aimed Beretta. A vade mecum to political infighting as thoughtfully impressive as the series debut, The Wooden Leg of Inpector Anders (2001).