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Author: Christopher Wright
Publisher: Hard Shell Word Factory
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The Hands of the Traitor is the first in a series of novels which feature Matt Rider. Rider is a private investigator in a small, down-at-the-heels London firm. He’s in this line of work after having been a police officer. Some say he was ousted, he says he left on good terms. It’s a sore point with Matt, whatever the real story.
This novel starts with Matt’s grandfather, Alec Rider, a WWII veteran and hero, who’s mentally unbalanced due to his wartime experiences. The elder Rider is obsessed by one particular incident that happened in Normandy in 1944. It has something to do with the large gold ring he’s worn since that time.
He stared into the dim shadows. The man in the other bed. Was he Heinman, the American with a signet ring on each hand - strange rings engraved with letters and a green eye - a man with a case of gold for the Nazis?
Alec Rider becomes particularly agitated and violent over these memories; so much so that he is confined to a secure care home. Matt has heard his granddad’s war stories hundreds of times and has never thought much about them. A violent incident in France, near Calais, draws Rider’s attention to the astonishing coincidence between this recent crime and his grandfather’s stories. Matt’s PIs instincts shoot into action. He decides to find out as much as possible about the connection between the two stories and the two rings.
While doing research on his grandfather’s mental problems, Rider meets the beautiful French woman, Zoé Champanelle. She’s a nurse living and working in the United Kingdom. In a lucky turn, for Matt, Zoé offers to meet his grandfather and see about his mental state and physical health. What Matt doesn’t foresee is just how much his grandfather is at risk of assassination because of what he knows.
The crime in Calais has drawn the interest and concern of someone else, as well. Frank Becker Heinman is the recently retired President of Domestic Chemicals International. He immediately recognizes the rings in the news as the ones his father was wearing when killed in Normandy in 1944. Heinman must act fast to cover up the connection of the violence in Calais with his company, and the probable accusations of Nazi collaboration that this would stir up.
The chase is on! Rider and Zoé hunt for people who might remember Alec Rider and the true story of the incident in 1944. While Heinman and his son, Jason, current President of DCI, and their henchmen hunt down Rider.
The characters race through the French countryside, getting closer and closer to the ugly truth. Heinman is forced to tell the whole story to his son - a good-for-nothing opportunist, who thinks only of how he can make money and lots of it! He is tangled up with an arms smuggler and owes him a great deal of money. Jason sees an opportunity to provide him with the ultimate weapon; just as soon as he can get his hands on his grandfather’s invention.
A key figure in the puzzle is Sophie Boissant, née Bernay, an elderly French woman. She was a young woman in the Resistance and played both sides for her benefit during the war. Sophie was present when Alec Rider confronted the Heinmans in Normandy. This gutsy, spry old lady is a real charm! Wright got Sophie’s character exactly right. Many elderly French women who lived through the WWII are quite devilish and adore adventure. Sophie is game to help Matt and Zoé get the good on the Heinmans and bring them to justice; all for the sake of her dear “Tommy” (an English soldier).
“Madame Boissant, I have come to see you about my grandfather… Madame my grandfather is dead.” Sophie put her hand to her small mouth, “Oh, poor Tommy.” “Alec,” corrected Matt. “His name was Alec.” “Tommy. Alec. He was Tommy to me.” Her voice became interspersed with little sobs. “Often I have though about my Tommy… and now… now I am never to see him again.”
Sophie nodded. “I dragged Tommy into the reeds. The Germans found the body of the old man and took him away with the dead soldiers, and the young American was driven off in a staff car with Colonel Röhm… All that night I nursed your grandfather… He was bleeding badly. When we hid in the reeds I washed him. We kissed and I got covered in the blood of Tommy, but I did not mind his blood on me. Of course, we did not make love together, but he was like a lover to me. I cannot explain how I felt. One day I wanted to say sorry to Tommy,” said Sophie, in tears at the memories that had been revived.
Wright also knows a great deal about law enforcement and the struggle for jurisdiction between the Police Nationale (civilian) and the Gendarmerie (military). The mud-slinging and back-stabbing that goes on regularly between these two groups is good fun, especially for those of us who are “in” on the joke.
After the Heinmans are found out, they try to make their way to Geneva where DCI has its European headquarters. Waiting there is their lawyer, Simon Urquet, whom they trust to get them out of Europe and back to the immunity of the United States. Rider, Zoé and Sophie race to beat them to Geneva in order to stop them from returning to the U.S. But every step of the way brings death and danger.
I found the first book in the series of Matt Rider detective novels well written and fast-paced. It held my interest throughout. The plot was credible and inventive. Following Matt Rider on his next investigations will be a pleasure.
The Hands of the Traitor wins 5 flutes of champagne for its coherence, character development, and fast action, and for being a darn good read!
