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SHERAZAD

Sherazad1 Sherazad3 Sherazad2
 
Full Name: Sherazad
Nationality: British
Organization: B.O.S.C.
Occupation Agent

Creator: Alfred Mazure
Time Span: 1971 - 1974

ABOUT THE SERIES

Sherazad is an agent in British Intelligence.

Specifically, she works for the Bureau of Special Cases, or B.O.S.C., a very secret department that handles, as the name implies, the special cases which none of the other departments are equipped to tackle, or would want to. While some such bureaus in fiction have used legitimate companies as a cover for their activities, the B.O.S.C. goes for a much stranger way to hide their presence. They work under the cover of an actual religious organization known as the Order of the Brothers of Love and Succour.

This group of devoted friars has its headquarters near the Tower of London and the majority of brothers who live and work there are true believers but a handful are actual agents of B.O.S.C. who came into the organization to act as a publicity department. Many of the aging brethren were skeptical of the intrusion. This skepticism became jaw-dropping amazement when the leader of that new group, Brother Joshua, had the temerity to hire a "secretary" who was female.

That secretary seldom visited at the priory. She never did any secretarial work. She definitely was not a part of the religious group for though she made sure her attire when showing up was respectable, it did nothing to hide the fact that she was a woman of exceptional attributes.

As the three-book series starts, Sherazad has been an agent with the B.O.S.C. for just over three years and she had already accomplished enough that her fellow agents greatly trusted and respected her abilities. She is not afraid to tackle tough cases and to give her all but neither is she flighty or rash in her actions. She is fully aware of the fact that a wrong move can kill but inaction can often be just as fatal.

Sherazad is a woman, probably in her late 29s, of apparent independent means for she lives in considerable comfort in a Chelsea home and drives an expensive Jaguar sports car. Her clothing is always tailor-made and of the latest trends. With a stunning figure, a beautiful face, flawless creamy complexion, and shimmering red hair, Sherazad is a powerful force even before she starts to use her incredible brain and her not-to-be ignored fighting skills.

What her full name is and whether Sherazad is a first or last or even a real name is never discussed. What is shown over and over is that she loves her work, she loves the excitement, and she loves making a difference. And she always does so her unique way.

BOOKS

Number of Books:3
First Appearance:1971
Last Appearance:1974

1 Welcome Sherazad Welcome Sherazad
Written by Alfred Mazure
Copyright: 1971

Beautiful women are disappearing and the clues point both towards a gold smuggling ring involving a Middle Eastern king and towards a radical behavioral scientist out to change the world. It is Sherazad's task to stop them both.

2 Sherazad On A Trip Sherazad On A Trip
Written by Alfred Mazure
Copyright: 1972

The murder of a scion of British politics in the jungles of Africa indicates dangerous actions on the part of the Chinese in that region, not to mention the possibility of visiters from another planet. Sherazad is called there to sort things out.

3 Sherazad Uptight Sherazad Uptight
Written by Alfred Mazure
Copyright: 1974

A tremendous brain drain is taking place in Britain when its best minds are being pulled elsewhere and it is probably not voluntary. Sherazad is asked to find out what is going on but doing so gets her into danger, not the worst of which was being stuck in a cement mixer.

MY COMMENTS

If EVER there was a case of not judging a book by its cover, or by its blurbs on the front and back, the Sherazad series is one. If you just looked at the alluring woman on the front or read the words of how she uses her body that is "made to sin and the mind that knows how", you would think, as I did when I first started reading them, that she was a British agent in the same sexploitation mode as the Lady from L.U.S.T. or the Girl from H.A.R.D.. If so, you would be as wrong as I was.

Sherazad is a very sexy female agent who enjoys sex and does not mind that others know it but this is not a frivolous excuse for soft-porn like the two mentioned series were. It truly has interesting assignments and missions with realistic bad guys and missions. In fact, there are more sex scenes in any given Nick Carter, Killmaster, book than in one of the Sherazad adventures.

It is obvious why the publishers went the way they did because female agents needed back then something to make them stand out from the traditional male operative and sex was the usual raisson d'etre but if you pick up the books expecting every chapter to be a love-fest, you will be disappointed.

The creator of the series, Alfred Mazure, was a noted Dutch comic strip creator whose most famous character was a detective named Dick Bos. He was, apparently, unfairly lumped in with several other Dutch cartoonists who had worked with the Nazis and left his native country to become a British citizen. There he continued his work and later moved into book writing which led to the Sherazad series.

These books will never be graded high and should not be but they also deserve recognition for being far more than their prurient covers would indicate. The two adventures that I have read (the third is very pricey) were fun to read and if ever I get the chance, I will read the third.

GRADE

My Grade: B

Your Average Grade:   C

YOUR OPINIONS

chrisno1 C 2017-03-22

You are right - the third adventure is still very pricey! I don't know quite what to make of these: some sensualty, some comedy, some tension, some utter dross - that business with UFOs in the second adventure, I mean, really? Of thier time and odd for their time and ours. Love the cover of the first novel. Nothing else to say.


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