SANDOR SEYMOUR

Full Name:	Sandor Seymour
Nationality:	British
Organization:	Special Branch
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	Michael Pearce
Time Span:	2004 - 2010

ABOUT THE SERIES

       Sandor Seymour is an agent with the Special Branch.
       Though he was born and bred in London, it was down in the dockland filled with tens of thousands of others like his parents who had come to England as immigrants for a better life. Seymour was not, therefore, himself an immigrant but having been raised in a polyglot of languages and customs, he could not help but think of himself as one.
       In the first recorded adventure, Seymour is entering a new world. He has been an officer in Special Branch for some time but this will be the first time he has operated outside the country and the first time he has had to deal with the Foreign Office. He finds immediately that the "diplomats" working in that department do not trust in his abilities to handle the situation, mostly because he was "one of them" and therefore must by logic not be qualified.
       But the Special Branch officers straddle the gap between criminals and enemies of the state and they know how to investigate suspicious deaths far better than those from the FO. Which is why Seymour, who usually operated in London's East End, finds himself in parts of the world he only vaguely knew about.
       Murder and murderers, crooks and scoundrels, and those wearing cloaks and carrying daggers - those Seymour understands, regardless of language. Dealing with all the myriad differences in the various places he will visit in this stage of his career will be challenging for this London dock-man but when facing a recently deceased body and needing to learn why and how and who did it is something he is quite good at.

BOOKS

Number of Books:	7
First Appearance:	2004
Last Appearance:	2010


1			A Dead Man In Trieste Written by Michael Pearce Copyright: 2004 The place is Trieste. The year is 1906. The Austrio-Hungarian Empire controls this turbulent city but their control is tenuous. Its secret police are everywhere. This is where Sandor Seymour is sent when the British Consul to that city goes missing. Did he have a love affair that went wrong? Did his unofficial business matters cause trouble? The possibilities are many as are the number of people who do not want Seymour to find the truth.

2			A Dead Man In Istanbul Written by Michael Pearce Copyright: 2005 When the Second Secretary of the Embassy in Istanbul dies while trying to swim the Dardanelles Straits, it is a not a mystery what killed him - the bullet hole in the head shows that. Other questions remain, however. Why was he swimming such a strange route? Was he really trying to spy on Turkish ship activity? Sandor Seymour has his work cut out for him as the Foreign Office again calls on him to sort it all out.

3			A Dead Man In Athens Written by Michael Pearce Copyright: 2006 The place is Athens. The year is 1913. The dream of a united Greece free of the yoke of the Ottoman Empire is strong in the mind of the current Greek Prime Minister. Was the poisoning of the favorite cat of the former Turkish Sultan an opening act to drive the Turks out? Unlikely but with tensions so taut, it is enough to get the British Foreign Office to send Sandor Seymour there to find who did it before humans start dying.

4			A Dead Man In Tangier Written by Michael Pearce Copyright: 2007 The death of a Frenchman in Tangier would normally fall to the local police but since they answer to the British Consul and the Foreign Office wants to make sure there is no hint of scandal, Sandor Seymour is sent to that North African city to take charge of the case. This is a good thing to a lot of people because if things go wrong, he is expendable.

5			A Dead Man In Barcelona Written by Michael Pearce Copyright: 2008 A murder of a Spaniard in Barcelona in 1912 should not have been the interest of anyone in Britain, even if he had been killed in his jail cell. But the man was connected to illegal trade between Spain, Spanish Morocco, and Gilbraltar and the Spanish authorities are worried no one will trust or cooperate with anyone else. Someone impartial is needed so they ask Scotland Yard for assistance and they ask Special Branch who sends Sandor Seymour.

6			A Dead Man In Naples Written by Michael Pearce Copyright: 2009 The murder of a minor British consular official in Naples in 1913 might have attracted some attention, naturally, but the amount it got was greatly enhanced when the Foreign Office receives a tip there was lot more to the killing than people realize.

7			A Dead Man In Malta Written by Michael Pearce Copyright: 2010 The place is Malta. The year is 1913. A balloonist has a crash and, though not hurt, is sent to the Naval Hospital as a precaution. It is there he suddenly dies. And he is not the only one to mysteriously die in that facility. That gets the Foreign Office worried and they ask Sandor Seymour to investigate. He finds tensions are high as war looms in Europe and that Mediterranian island would like independence.

MY COMMENTS

       These awesome books are part mystery, part detective, and part espionage - and all terrific. The writing is superb and feels like delicious brandy tasted going down. Smooth and warm and oh so welcoming. That is what attracted me at first.
       Then I really got to like Sandor Seymour. He is such a delightful character that people who do not know him tend to dismiss but who does not let that get to him as he methodically goes about handling every situation.
       The author started writing about Seymour when he [the author] was 71 and I fully believe the man's age helped immensely in making Seymour such a rich and grounded individual. The last one was written when the author was 77 and that was a decade ago. Being greedy, I would have wanted more but at least he gave us 7 delightful adventures (as well as 19 equally awesome books about Garth Owen, aka Mamur Zapt, British head of Cairo's Political CID.
       My goodness, that man can write!

GRADE

My Grade: A-

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