The Silver Mistress [Hardcover]

The Silver Mistress is one of several books about Modesty Blaise and her faithful companion Willie Gravin. Modesty is a self-made millionaire (gained when she led a criminal network in her early 20s). She and Willie retired but found the quiet life didn't appeal and among other things, took jobs for the British Intelligence network. They are both experts in martial arts along with other various skills (lock picking, flying, parachuting, etc.)

Silver Mistress concerns their actions to rescue Tarrant (head of Brit Intel and friend) from a gang of blackmailers. It contains one of the best fight sequences ever written, from whence the title comes. Modesty versus the bad martial artist.

While this little review leaves so much unsaid, it is better than none at all. It is an excellent book -- one I've reread several times and if you like action books or female heroes, you can't miss it or any other Modesty Blaise books. Jim Kajpust

Looking for a new twist on the Spy/Adventure story? Well here it is, at it's shapely best! Modesty & her sidekick/partner, Willie are off into danger once again, this time to save the life of an old friend. Peter O'Donnell has really outdone himself, in this tale of intrigue, gadgetry, & oneupmanship! This tale is lighthearted and sexy throughout, but still leaves your stomach in a knot as the action continually gets hotter until the unexpected climax. Try it! You'll love it! I did

"The Silver Mistress" is one of my favorite Modesty Blaise books because most of the action takes place in Southern France, around the Gorges du Tarn region and in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. This is a part of the world that I know fairly well, and love, and that makes the story especially attractive for me.

If I ignore this special personal appeal then this story is no longer among the best in the series, and that's why I'm only awarding four stars.

"The Silver Mistress" was written by Peter O'Donnell in 1973, at a time when the Modesty Blaise phenomenon was still at its highest. It is the seventh book in the series and by now there were a large number of loyal fans who eagerly awaited each book with open arms.

Unfortunately, "The Silver Mistress", together with "The Impossible Virgin" (1971), mark the beginning of the decline of the series. There would never again be another "A Taste for Death" (1969), the ultimate Modesty story that marked the high point.

In many ways "The Silver Mistress" is a classical Modesty story. There are some really nasty bad guys, some with very surprising characteristics. Modesty and Willie Garvin (Modesty's loyal sidekick) get captured by the bad guys and have to break out of captivity. Some other non-combatant good guys are also held captive so Modesty and Willie have to take care of them as well when the final showdown occurs. And, of course, the bad guys get their just rewards, often in rather unexpected and gruesome ways.

To start with the bad guys, the American Colonel Jim and his ridiculous wife, Lucy, make a scary/petulant pair - typical Peter O'Donnell creations. When Colonel Jim shows his wife how much he loves her by letting her choose the first of the captives to be killed we are both horrified and fascinated by this bizarre twist of human nature.

The other secondary bad guys are similarly intriguing.

Unfortunately, the top bad guy, Mr. Sexton, doesn't live up to his role. When the world's greatest unarmed combat fighter sets out to kill Modesty and Willie we should be terrified, but somehow Mr. Sexton never really comes alive, and remains an abstract threat rather than one we totally believe in. He's too perfect, and thus somewhat artificial.

The story is fairly simple, with Tarrant (a close friend of Modesty and Willie) getting kidnapped by Colonel Jim and Mr. Sexton and being subjected to slow torture. When Modesty and Willie discover this they come to the rescue, only to get captured themselves, along with two others. Then Modesty and Willie have to break out and rescue Tarrant and the other two.

Incidentally, the quote at the top of this review ("And anyway, 'e won't dare die on 'er, not the mood she's in now.") is Willie's comment regarding Tarrant's chances of surviving Modesty's chosen method of rescuing him from captivity. (pg 213)

"The Silver Mistress" is not a great Modesty book, but it is above average. It has the usual qualities of the intelligent and humorous slant on things and the appeal of the unique relationship between Modesty and Willie.

Among the not-so-great aspects is the problem of Mr. Sexton not being as serious a threat as he should be. There are also some plot problems, for example the silliness of Modesty inviting two other people, Lady Janet Gillam and Quinn, to join them on a caper. Of course this is a recipe for disaster, and if Willie really cared about Lady Janet he shouldn't have let Modesty do such a crazy thing.

Other plot problems involve the stupidity of the bad guys staying put in their French chateau even after they know they've been blown, and an overly sugar-sweet ending.

One thought-provoking aspect of reading or re-reading this book today is the relevance it has regarding airplane hijackings in the light of the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy. In the story Quinn was a copilot on an airplane that had been hijacked by terrorists, and he tells Modesty about his feelings at the time: "How dare you! How dare you threaten all these men and women and kids, you mindless maniacs!" (pg 117)

Recommended, even after 30 years. (The first couple Modesty books are now 40 years old, and I'm still giving them five stars and a "highly recommended".)

Rennie Petersen

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 6 reviews  4.7 out of 5 stars