Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Hot Ticket
Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Janice Weber
Class/Genre: Mystery
Series: Leslie Frost
Warner, Nov 1998, $24.00, 337 pp.
It has been almost ten years since concert pianist Leslie Frost began working as a secret agent under the auspices of Maxine, not so affectionately dubbed the "Queen" by her employees. Leslie's latest tour, starting in Munich, has been delayed as she is assigned to investigate the murder of a peer, Polly Mason, better known to Leslie as Agent Barnard. Maxine knows that Polly had shared a bath with the lecherous President Marvel, who only lives up to his surname when he chases after skirts.
As Leslie seeks out the identity of a murderer, she constantly runs into the DC stereotype of the government official whose only mission is either advancement or being reelected. The trail soon leads to Belize and back to the White House. As she gets closer to the truth, Leslie needs to be extremely cautious because the killer has no compunctions of eliminating a second member of Queen Maxine's crack group.
The fifth novel in the Leslie Frost "I Spy" series is a well-written thriller that will provide pleasure to the sub-genre fans, but sadly lands in the category of should-haves (novels that should have been a classic, but ...). The story line is loaded and the characters are engaging. However, HOT TICKET never makes up its mind as to whether its wants to be an espionage thriller or a political satire on the current DC head games (pun intended). In spite of that flaw, which takes little away from a fine novel, Janice Weber's tale is worth reading as Frost remains an interesting protagonist. Her previous exploits (see FROST THE FIDDLER) as a secret agent are also worth perusing
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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