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The Long Short Cut
When Anthony Bliss - roguish ladies man and con-artist extraordinaire - meets gorgeous Corinne Lake, whose wit, charm and eye for the finer things in life make her utterly irresistible, sparks fly. Their combination of passion and intellect make them perfect partners - in crime.
Putting their heads together, they dream up a scheme for success - by smuggling a crooked financier out of England they could stand to make a fortune. In an action-packed race against time, the pair go over every detail of their plan - but is it enough to pull off the heist of a lifetime?
'It is impossible for Andrew Garve to be anything but supremely readable' Guardian
'The ensuing complications and surprises are highly ingenious, making this Andrew Garve's best for several books' Sunday Times
Putting their heads together, they dream up a scheme for success - by smuggling a crooked financier out of England they could stand to make a fortune. In an action-packed race against time, the pair go over every detail of their plan - but is it enough to pull off the heist of a lifetime?
'It is impossible for Andrew Garve to be anything but supremely readable' Guardian
'The ensuing complications and surprises are highly ingenious, making this Andrew Garve's best for several books' Sunday Times
- GenresMystery
150 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
8 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Garve
135 books11 followersAKA: Paul Somers, Roger Bax
Andrew Garve was the pen name of Paul Winterton (1908-2001). He was born in Leicester and educated at the Hulme Grammar School, Manchester and Purley County School, Surrey, after which he took a degree in Economics at London University. He was on the staff of The Economist for four years, and then worked for fourteen years for the London News Chronicle as reporter, leader writer and foreign correspondent. He was assigned to Moscow from 1942 to 1945, where he was also the correspondent of the BBC’s Overseas Service.
After the war he turned to full-time writing of detective and adventure novels and produced more than forty-five books. His work was serialized, televised, broadcast, filmed and translated into some twenty languages. He was noted for his varied and unusual backgrounds – including Russia, newspaper offices, the West Indies, ocean sailing, the Australian outback, politics, mountaineering and forestry – and for never repeating a plot.
Andrew Garve was a founding member and first joint secretary of the Crime Writers’ Association.
Andrew Garve was the pen name of Paul Winterton (1908-2001). He was born in Leicester and educated at the Hulme Grammar School, Manchester and Purley County School, Surrey, after which he took a degree in Economics at London University. He was on the staff of The Economist for four years, and then worked for fourteen years for the London News Chronicle as reporter, leader writer and foreign correspondent. He was assigned to Moscow from 1942 to 1945, where he was also the correspondent of the BBC’s Overseas Service.
After the war he turned to full-time writing of detective and adventure novels and produced more than forty-five books. His work was serialized, televised, broadcast, filmed and translated into some twenty languages. He was noted for his varied and unusual backgrounds – including Russia, newspaper offices, the West Indies, ocean sailing, the Australian outback, politics, mountaineering and forestry – and for never repeating a plot.
Andrew Garve was a founding member and first joint secretary of the Crime Writers’ Association.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 7, 2019
This is quite a good Garve novel, in my estimation. The two main characters are not particularly sympathetic, nor does it seem the author intended them to be. (They are, after all criminals.) But the level of suspense is high and, not surprisingly, I found myself rooting for the success of the crime.
October 26, 2022
Michael Bliss, handsome, charming, and polished man about town is beginning to run a little low on funds. He’s not particularly worried though as he’s been in this position many times before. A new job always seemed to come his way. It was just a matter of finding the right opportunity. These things had a way of taking care of themselves, especially for a professional confidence man like Bliss.
Sure enough, an opportunity does, indeed, come along when Bliss witnesses a shooting. At first, he is reluctant to come forward as a witness but then he realizes he can make use of the goodwill he would generate from the police. He can use that to smuggle a criminal financier out of the country and use those same police to assist him in the smuggling operation. He enlists his new friend, the lovely Corinne in a masterful scheme and together they plan and execute all the details while at the same time, earning a hefty paycheck, albeit grudgingly from the financier.
Author Andrew Garve is a pseudonym of Paul Winterton, a former journalist in Britain and a well-respected crime writer. He was, in fact a founding member of the Crime Writers’ Association. He’s written a number of engaging mystery/crime novels and if this one is an indication of his work, then I will be happy to pursue as many others as I can.
That said, this is not a perfect novel by any means. The scheme developed by Bliss and Corinne wasn’t really all that complex, nothing like an Ocean’s 11 sort of scheme. There are a few risks with their plan but, given the state of technology in 1968 when this novel was first published, those risks seem minor. Most of the novel is devoted to the day-to-day and even hour-by-hour planning while much less is devoted to the actual carrying out of the plan. But that was Ok with me because something about these two characters resonated with me, and I enjoyed spending time with them. I kept waiting for something to go wrong but it all unfolded without a hitch…until the very end. I’d been expecting one of the pair to turn on the other, having conned them all the way along. I won’t spoil that but I will say the end provided a nice surprise twist and another in the very last paragraph.
An enjoyable read and a nice entry into more works of Paul Winterton which I will be seeking out in the future.
Sure enough, an opportunity does, indeed, come along when Bliss witnesses a shooting. At first, he is reluctant to come forward as a witness but then he realizes he can make use of the goodwill he would generate from the police. He can use that to smuggle a criminal financier out of the country and use those same police to assist him in the smuggling operation. He enlists his new friend, the lovely Corinne in a masterful scheme and together they plan and execute all the details while at the same time, earning a hefty paycheck, albeit grudgingly from the financier.
Author Andrew Garve is a pseudonym of Paul Winterton, a former journalist in Britain and a well-respected crime writer. He was, in fact a founding member of the Crime Writers’ Association. He’s written a number of engaging mystery/crime novels and if this one is an indication of his work, then I will be happy to pursue as many others as I can.
That said, this is not a perfect novel by any means. The scheme developed by Bliss and Corinne wasn’t really all that complex, nothing like an Ocean’s 11 sort of scheme. There are a few risks with their plan but, given the state of technology in 1968 when this novel was first published, those risks seem minor. Most of the novel is devoted to the day-to-day and even hour-by-hour planning while much less is devoted to the actual carrying out of the plan. But that was Ok with me because something about these two characters resonated with me, and I enjoyed spending time with them. I kept waiting for something to go wrong but it all unfolded without a hitch…until the very end. I’d been expecting one of the pair to turn on the other, having conned them all the way along. I won’t spoil that but I will say the end provided a nice surprise twist and another in the very last paragraph.
An enjoyable read and a nice entry into more works of Paul Winterton which I will be seeking out in the future.
December 26, 2019
The writer is writing under another name: his real name is Winterton.
I was disappointed in this book.
Mostly, the book as written more like a catalogue of actions taken towards a specific denouement. I found myself truly speed-reading through the pages, especially after around 40% of the book. I skimmed the lines at super speed knowing that the author was not really saying anything new; he was merely filling in the details.
So, who thinks that 'earlier authors' are necessarily better than more recent ones? It's not at all necessarily true.
If one is reading Baldacci, for example, one knows that he keeps one really interested almost page by page. His books do not rely on an amazing ending. He keeps one interesting; and therefore reading at a medium pace; throughout the book.
With THIS book, I realised fairly soon that the author's intention was to amaze us with a 'surprise' ending: which was, in fact, no surprise! The book was boring, merely good in detail only.
I have heard of people reading 2-300+ books a year! How boring, why bother? Is reading truly only a matter of quantity?? Personally I treasure a book of 350+ pages, that keeps me truly interested and takes a week to read. (I DO do other things, you know..)
I try new authors, those whose Kindle books cost a dollar or two, in the hope of finding a new good author. Occasionally one finds one. Good luck with your searches.
I was disappointed in this book.
Mostly, the book as written more like a catalogue of actions taken towards a specific denouement. I found myself truly speed-reading through the pages, especially after around 40% of the book. I skimmed the lines at super speed knowing that the author was not really saying anything new; he was merely filling in the details.
So, who thinks that 'earlier authors' are necessarily better than more recent ones? It's not at all necessarily true.
If one is reading Baldacci, for example, one knows that he keeps one really interested almost page by page. His books do not rely on an amazing ending. He keeps one interesting; and therefore reading at a medium pace; throughout the book.
With THIS book, I realised fairly soon that the author's intention was to amaze us with a 'surprise' ending: which was, in fact, no surprise! The book was boring, merely good in detail only.
I have heard of people reading 2-300+ books a year! How boring, why bother? Is reading truly only a matter of quantity?? Personally I treasure a book of 350+ pages, that keeps me truly interested and takes a week to read. (I DO do other things, you know..)
I try new authors, those whose Kindle books cost a dollar or two, in the hope of finding a new good author. Occasionally one finds one. Good luck with your searches.
May 16, 2013
"Corinne Lake - a girl who looks wonderful in anything she took off...Anthony Bliss - a man who planned for success in anything he took on...From putting their heads together came a dream of a scheme - £225,000 in return for smuggling a crooked financier out of England..."
So reads the back cover of this excellent 1968 story from the always reliable Andrew Garve. It's a fairly straightforward plot, a well thought-out scheme to make money, which doesn't go quite according to plan. Garve doesn't waste any time in getting down to business - there's no long, drawn out paragraphs or superfluous prose here. Yet he still manages to bring to life characters who are believable and who you care about. Bliss and Lake are so convincing that you want them to succeed - another great example of Garve's excellent anti-heroes.
Lots of Garve's books are criminally out of print, but if you find one savour it, as your search will be well rewarded.
© Koplowitz 2013
So reads the back cover of this excellent 1968 story from the always reliable Andrew Garve. It's a fairly straightforward plot, a well thought-out scheme to make money, which doesn't go quite according to plan. Garve doesn't waste any time in getting down to business - there's no long, drawn out paragraphs or superfluous prose here. Yet he still manages to bring to life characters who are believable and who you care about. Bliss and Lake are so convincing that you want them to succeed - another great example of Garve's excellent anti-heroes.
Lots of Garve's books are criminally out of print, but if you find one savour it, as your search will be well rewarded.
© Koplowitz 2013
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews