A Gripping World of Mafia, Money, Many Secrets

What is it that makes a mystery spellbinding? In Thomas Perry’s brilliant novel “Blood Money” (Random House, $24.95, 352 pages), it’s the promise of the chase right from the opening sentence: “There were still moments when the old life seemed to be on the verge of returning--there would be something out of place near the vanishing point of her sight or in the periphery.” “Her” is Jane Whitefield, a sleuth with the most original occupation in mystery fiction--she makes people in trouble disappear. Well she did, until she married Dr. Carey McKinnon and promised she’d give up spiriting fugitives out of harm’s way. As with all literary heroines who vow to give up their careers, her promise was as firm as a presidential candidate’s and lasted only a couple of pages.

In this go-round, a young girl named Rita begs Jane to help her hide from Frank Delfina, a Mafioso whose path Jane has crossed before. Hiding Rita would have been a snap for Jane, who has a seemingly infinite number of safe deposit boxes across America stashed with the stuff new identities are made of. But Rita had been keeping house for mob legend Bernie Lupus, a.k.a. Bernie the Elephant, “the private banking system of the bent-nosed and bull-necked.” For half a century, Bernie has invested money for 12 mob families with nothing written on paper, just stored in his memory. The mob thinks Bernie is dead and Rita knows where the cash is stashed. But Bernie is alive and has asked Jane to help him steal the Mafia’s $10 billion and give it to charity.

Anyone in their right mind would have passed but, Jane, a walking lethal weapon who also happens to be drop-dead gorgeous, is a force of nature unto herself. Her methods are ingenious, and Perry’s writing is as sharp as a sushi knife. His characters include such singular inventions as George, who “had been a travel agent for money, who specialized in sending it on complicated world tours,” and he sets a literary record for running through credit cards, apartments, homes, new cars and long-distance driving. (If Jane ever gives up hiding people, she has a great future as a truck driver.) Buy it: I guarantee you’ll stay up all night.

*

If Perry sucks you in by being whip smart, Marius Gabriel, author of “The Seventh Moon” (Bantam, $24.95, 351 pages), grabs you by creating an emotional pot boiler in an exotic locale. The time is World War II. Japanese planes are bombing Singapore, and Francine Lawrence, a “stengah” (a derogatory European term for a Eurasian), is trapped at Raffles Hotel with her young daughter, Ruth. Her mine-foreman husband has foolishly but nobly remained at his post in Ipoh, in Malaysia, and has probably been killed by Gen. Yamashita’s men. No problem for Francine: She swiftly allies with Clive Napier, a well-connected British soldier who falls in love with her. As the Japanese take over the whole of Malaya, Francine, Clive and young Ruth escape Singapore in a dilapidated Chinese junk. Predictably, the child falls ill, their boat is bombed, a typhoon hits, but somehow the three make it to Rumah Nendak, a small island. Ruth is near death, the Japanese have invaded and Francine makes a harrowing choice. She leaves her daughter with a local couple and escapes with Clive.

When the war ends, Francine searches in vain for Ruth. Then 30 years later, Francine has become a business tycoon--it would have been thoughtful if the author bothered to tell us what she did. A woman, Sakura Ueda, has dropped by Francine’s office, hinting that she may be the long-lost Ruth. Afraid of being hurt, Francine refuses to see her and puts her top security guy on the job to see if the woman is an impostor. Whoever she is, she has tuberculosis and major enemies.

The first half of the book, with its vivid scenes of war, is far more interesting than the second half. Sakura is too much of a mess to be truly interesting, and as the action shifts to Laos, I felt like I was on an Asian holiday that had gone on too long. The denouement is more romance novel than thriller, but it tugs at your heartstrings nonetheless.

*

I confess that I kept reading “The Tidal Poole” (Delacorte Press, $22.95, 290 pages), Karen Harper’s second mystery starring Queen Elizabeth I, more because I was bowled over by the author’s impeccable research than because the plot was commanding. Elizabeth has finally ascended to the throne, and as she triumphantly enters London, a well-born lady of the court is murdered. It would seem to me that the young queen and her charming circle of sidekicks would have more important things to do than break into castles and navigate the tidal pools of the Thames in the middle of the night. But if you can suspend disbelief long enough to get past that problem and you are a fan of Tudor times, a treat is in store. Harper’s facility with historical figures such as William Cecil, Robert Dudley and the treacherous Duchess of Suffolk is extraordinary.

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The Times reviews mysteries every other week. Next week: Rochelle O’Gorman on audio books.