Matto Al Re in Sedici Mosse

Hugo Bishop #1

by Adam Hall

Hugo Bishop: He's not a cop, nor a private eye. He simply shows up to help. He's the figure at the edge of the floodlights as a body is pulled from the river. He's the brilliant fashion plate who knocks elbows with psychopaths. Wielding a pungent sense of humor, he pursues danger in an arena of exotic intrigues and and deadly pleasures. In Bishop's high-risk world, "The only thing worth going for is checkmate."

Hugo Bishop sets out to find the missing piece of a love triangle. Nicole Pedley's husband is a famous London theatrical director. Her lover is a handsome young actor who has made a sudden exit. With the help of his able assistant Vera Gorringe, Bishop sets off to find the missing man, immersing himself in a deliciously back-stabbing, backstage world of envy, passion, and enough phony baloney to choke you dead

Genres: Mystery, Thriller

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

Author also wrote as Elleston Trevor.

Author Trevor Dudley-Smith was born in Kent, England on February 17, 1920. He attended Yardley Court Preparatory School and Sevenoaks School. During World War II, he served in the Royal Air Force as a flight engineer. After the war, he started writing full-time. He lived in Spain and France before moving to the United States and settling in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1946 he used the pseudonym Elleston Trevor for a non-mystery book, and later made it his legal name. He also wrote under the pseudonyms of Adam Hall, Simon Rattray, Mansell Black, Trevor Burgess, Roger Fitzalan, Howard North, Warwick Scott, Caesar Smith, and Lesley Stone. Even though he wrote thrillers, mysteries, plays, juvenile novels, and short stories, his best-known works are The Flight of the Phoenix written as Elleston Trevor and the series about British secret agent Quiller written as Adam Hall. In 1965, he received the Edgar Allan Poe Award by Mystery Writers of America and the French Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for The Quiller Memorandum. This book was made into a 1967 movie starring George Segal and Alec Guinness. He died of cancer on July 21, 1995.

Reviews

[Dr Susan Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first of the Hugo Bishop series. I did enjoy it after a slow start. Bishop is one of those rather strong and silent types who gets the job done. I like it that he plays the piano, has a very intelligent woman side-kick, Vera Gorringe and a splendid Siamese Princess in his retinue. My paperback actually has the same cover as show for the Kindle version - the red knight chess piece comes into the story at the denouement and I don't wish to spoil the ending, although we do get to know 'who did it' well before the final chapter. The chapters are entitled as chess moves - very appropriate as we find out what happened to the victim Rob Trafford, who was having an affair with the women that Hugo decides to help, when her lover goes missing. Set against the backdrop of the Shakespearian theatre in London we have the play 'Othello' as a big clue to the plot.

[Yas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A somewhat dated but quick read about a detective probing the disappearance of a young woman's lover.

[laurel jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

very British mystery who done it