After the Fine Weather

After the fine weather3

The title of this spy mystery book sets the scene; after the fine weather comes the snow. Set in Lienz in the Austrian Tyrol the onset of bad weather coincides with an alarming sequence of events. Bald Kommt der Schnee:

In Lienz we call this Bellermanswoch. The Bellerman is the old man who goes round after the feast is over, cleaning up the tables and snuffing the candles. … But when the Bellerman has finished his work, when he has extinguished the last candle, the snow will come.

Laura Hart travels to Lienz to stay with her brother who is the British Vice-Consul there. On the train there she meets an American who warns her of the growing political tension in the area, with a group of Nazis, blowing up pylons and railways causing trouble between the Germans, Austrians and Italians.

When she witnesses a political murder and insists that the Italian arrested for the shooting is innocent she becomes involved in a dangerous game. Helped by the American and a Secret Service agent she attempts to leave the Tyrol. I did find the politics quite confusing in this book, knowing next to nothing about it and the episode at the end involving what I took to be a variation of the Abominable Snowman was far-fetched. However, the book as a whole is fast-paced with lots of action and would probably make a good film – if it hasn’t done so already.

This book completes my reading in the What’s In a Name Challenge in the “Weather” category.

Thank you to Zetor over on Mog’s Blog who has given me this award.

Here are the rules:

Open the closest book to you, not your favourite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment. Turn to page 56…. Write out the fifth sentence, as well as two to five sentences following there. Then pass this lovely little award on to five other people…….

I can’t deny that I’m a book worm and I’m sitting at my desk surrounded by books (as usual). The one that is closest to me is After the Fine Weather by Michael Gilbert. It’s there because I’ve recently finished reading it and plan to write about it. The fifth sentence and the following five sentences are:

It was as if he were weighing her as a witness in a court of law.

“You saw the gun?”

“I saw the gun,” said Laura. “When I was getting away from the square I saw the man who had used it. He was slipping out of the theatre by a side door. And I not only saw him, but I recognised him.

That, by chance, is an important event in this book!

As most of the blogs I read are book blogs I can’t possibly single out just five other book worms. If you love to read as much as I do, please feel free to pick up the award and let me know. I love reading snippets from books others are reading.