My Ongoing Look at the Spy / Thriller Genre - Anthony Morton

Anthony Morton / JJ Marric / John Creasey

Anthony Morton was one of many pseudonyms of English mystery / thriller writer John Creasey. He lived from 1908 - 1973. He also wrote under the pseudonym JJ Marric (I discussed his Inspector Gideon books in my look at the Mystery genre), Norman Deane, Jeremy York, etc. Over the course of his life he wrote 1 million books.. Er, well I'm exaggerating a bit but he was prolific. In my look at the Spy / Thriller genre I'm going to highlight a series I've only begun to explore, that of The Baron. The series was also turned into a 1960s TV series starring Steve Forrest as The Baron, an antiques dealer and sometimes undercover agent. From 1937 - 1979, he wrote 40+ books in the series. I have read one so far and have 4 more on my book shelves. So let's take a look at them shall we.

1. Meet the Baron (aka The Man in the Blue Mask) (1937).

"John Manering (aka The Baron) makes his first appearance in this volume. Lord Fauntley cannot help showing off both his daughter and the security under which his precious jewels are kept. Mannering finds himself attracted to both .... Money is tight and so he plans a burglary, but this fails and unexpected consequences result. The relationship with Lorna Fauntley flourishes, and a series of high profile thefts and adventures ensure Mannering's future, so he believes, until Lorna equates him with The Baron. One of the many further twists in this award winning novel occurs when the police appear to seek Mannering's help, only to have everything turned upside down as the plot develops . . . .

2. Alias The Baron (aka Alias Blue Mask) (1939)

"John Mannering (aka 'The Baron') bought the Dellamont Emeralds in Paris. They were beautiful, expensive - and sinister. But Mannering, connoisseur of precious gems, chose to ignore their history of misfortune. Then things began to happen - an attempted robbery of the famous jewels; and a quarrel with Lorna Fauntley. Seemingly separate incidents, yet all connected. The strangest thing of all was that someone was impersonating the Baron ....

3. The Baron and the Stolen Legacy (aka Bad for the Baron) (1962).

"John Mannering (aka ‘The Baron’) is a retired jewel thief who is regularly consulted about cases by Scotland Yard. Now, however, he finds himself the chief suspect in a murder and robbery and is locked up in jail where, from his prison cell, he must find the answer to thirteen difficult questions in order to solve the crime and prove his innocence. Meanwhile, the real perpetrators are free and able to further complicate matters and make Mannering’s task even more difficult."

4. Last Laugh for the Baron (1970).

"John Creasey was a thriller writer who wrote over 200 books during his lifetime. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms; J.J. Marric, Anthony Morton, Gordon Ashe, etc. I've enjoyed his Inspector Gideon books (as Marric) very much. I have read one of his Dr. Palfrey books (as Creasey) as well. This was my first attempt at The Baron series. I've had two of the books in the series for a number of years and thought it about time to finally try one.

Last Laugh for the Baron is the 42 book in this series. As I said, Creasey was prolific. The Baron, John Mannering, is an ex-jewel thief, cat burglar, etc. In this book, he's retired from his life and runs an antique store in London. While he is away on business, a strange event occurs. His manager, John Larraby, receives a very strange phone call and sends one of his clerks to investigate. At the same time, a young lady, Belle Danizon, arrives at the shop demanding to speak to Mannering. When Mannering is caught up with via a phone call, she leaves him with a strange message.

So there you go, that's the start of this story. As it progresses, we follow a series of jewel robberies from rich families of London, with their adult children suspected of involvement, a threat to the career of Mannering's friend, Inspector Bristow and murders and threats to Mannering's wife. The central villain is a mysterious man who seems to have power over the young people.

Mannering must rekindle his skills as The Baron in fighting the stranger, a man called Yenn, and utilize all of the friendships at his disposal to try and solve what is going on and to save himself and these same friends. It's all a bit of a wild ride, reminding me of The Avengers TV show from the '60s. In fact, The Baron was also turned into a TV series (I've got to find an episode or two) starring Steve Forrest as The Baron.

Suspend disbelief, get a bowl of popcorn and just enjoy a light, entertaining, pulp action / mystery. Don't expect any grand motives or such, just entertainment. Now to find a few more of the series. (3 stars)"

e. The Baron and the Arrogant Artist (1972).

"When an unpleasant young man called Forrester forced his way into Quinns, determined that Mannering should finance his artistic efforts, the art dealer was firm but unimpressed.

The Baron was not to know that later that day he would receive a desperate phone call from the artist's terrified girl-friend. She had found Forrester half-dead, hanging with a noose round his neck.

But why should such a brash young man want to kill himself? Or was he the victim of attempted murder?"

So there you go folks. The complete listing of this author's works can be found at this link.