Toyshop

Blaines #3

by Andrew Taylor

Wolfgang is dead. He had been stationed in the UK, a high-flying senior export executive for East Germany's toy manufacturing industry. Now his bosses want his brother Gerhard to replace him in London. It makes little sense to Gerhard, but at least the job offers an opportunity to escape life behind the Iron Curtain. Working in London under the watchful eyes of the Stasi, Gerhard suspects that his brother was murdered. He digs deeper and joins forces with a young American, Elizabeth Allanton. They seem to share a common desire for the truth about Wolfgang. But their search for the facts behind his death leads them into the clutches of both the East German and British intelligence services. Once you are caught, can you ever escape? Originally published just before the Berlin Wall came down the novel provides a bleak picture of the West from a Eastern European perspective in the closing phase of the Cold War. "Intriguing thriller...buttonholing mix of commerce and killing...narrator's nationality provides an unusual perspective." Guardian ". . . makes London feel as nasty as Greene's Vienna." The Times Andrew Taylor’s 30-plus novels include the number one bestseller, The American Boy, chosen by The Times as one of the top ten crime novels of the decade; the Roth Trilogy (filmed for TV as Fallen Angel); the Lydmouth Series; The Anatomy of Ghosts, shortlisted for Theakston’s best crime novel of the year; The Scent of Death (winner of Historical Dagger); and The Silent Boy. His most recent awards are the CWA Diamond Dagger and Sweden’s Martin Beck Award. He is The Spectator’s crime fiction reviewer. Further www.andrew-taylor.co.uk and on twitter @andrewjrtaylor. \

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Andrew Taylor (b. 1951) is a British author of mysteries. Born in East Anglia, he attended university at Cambridge before getting an MA in library sciences from University College London. His first novel, Caroline Miniscule (1982), a modern-day treasure hunt starring history student William Dougal, began an eight-book series and won Taylor wide critical acclaim. He has written several other thriller series, most notably the eight Lydmouthbooks, which begin with An Air That Kills (1994).

His other novels include The Office of the Dead (2000) and The American Boy (2003), both of which won the Crime Writers’ Association of Britain’s Ellis Peters Historical Dagger award, making Taylor the only author to receive the prize twice. His Roth trilogy, which has been published in omnibus form as Requiem for an Angel (2002), was adapted by the UK’s ITV for its television show Fallen Angel. Taylor’s most recent novel is the historical thriller The Scent of Death (2013).

Reviews

[Georgina Beard · Rating 5 out of 5]

More twists and turns in this third novel in the Blaines trilogy

As with the previous two novels in the spy trilogy Toy shop had me gripped to the end. Blaines makes only a coup!e of brief appearances in this story, somewhat older and considerably larger. Each book can easily be read as stand alone novels because the story lines are based around three different aspects of twentieth century Britain !with different characters. If you like a good spy story and enjoy trying to spot the clues you'll enjoy this. It will keep you guessing.

[Phil Baisley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another New Perspective

Perspective. That’s what reading Andrew Taylor will do for you. Change your perspective. Want to see a war, hot or cold, from a point of view other than your side? There’s a Taylor book for that. In the case of Toy Shop, it’s an East German’s perspective of the Cold War set in a mystery that kept me interested right ‘til its denouement. Kudos once again to Mr. Taylor.