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The Spy Who Read Latin: And Other Stories: A Jeffery Rand Collection Kindle Edition

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 32 ratings

In the thick of the Cold War, a British spy will do anything to keep the peace
Father Howard steps off the plane in Albania, relieved to be out of China at last, but knowing that until he reaches Paris, he is not safe from the Communists. As he makes his way across the tarmac, two bullets strike him in the back of the head. The missionary is no more. The incident prompts an unprecedented meeting between C. Jeffery Rand, fixer for the British secret service, and his counterpart inside Soviet Russia. Seeking an ally to fight a common enemy, Russia enlists Rand’s help in its clash against the Chinese. Rand will do all he can to avenge the murdered priest—but how much can he trust the Soviet agent?
In these stories, Rand lives with the daily threat of betrayal. He knows two things are true: There is no honor among spies, and the safest agent is the one who trusts no one.
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Edward D. Hoch (1930–2008) was a master of the mystery short story. Born in Rochester, New York, he sold his first story, "The Village of the Dead," to Famous Detective Stories, then one of the last remaining old-time pulps. The tale introduced Simon Ark, a two-thousand-year-old Coptic priest who became one of Hoch's many series characters. Others included small-town doctor Sam Hawthorne, police detective Captain Leopold, and Revolutionary War secret agent Alexander Swift. By rotating through his stable of characters, most of whom aged with time, Hoch was able to achieve extreme productivity, selling stories to Argosy, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, which published a story of his in every issue from 1973 until his death.
In all, Hoch wrote nearly one thousand short tales, making him one of the most prolific story writers of the twentieth century. He was awarded the 1968 Edgar Award for "The Oblong Room," and in 2001 became the first short story writer to be named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00GH2G7UC
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ MysteriousPress.com/Open Road (November 26, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 26, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3013 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 112 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 32 ratings

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Edward D. Hoch
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
32 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2016
Like all of Hoch short stories a great read
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2017
This is only five collections of Jeffery Rand short stories -- yes, merely five:

"The Spy Who Came to the Brink"
"The Spy Who Could Read Latin"
"The Spy Who Traveled With a Coffin"
"The Spy Who Collected Lapel Pins"
"The Spy Who Came Back From the Dead"

These appear to be all of the stories dealing with Taz (at least, Taz is in all of the stories), and they are arranged chronologically.

I first ran across the "Spy Who" stories in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (EQMM) in the late 1970s and early 1980s and very much looked forward to reading the Edward Hoch stories - especially "The Theft of" stories and "The Spy Who" stories.

However, with only five stories, the book is very quickly finished. The only story I knew from the EQMM days was the last one, so I enjoyed reading more about Jeffery Rand during his working years (he was retired in all the EQMM stories I read) and his encounters with Taz.

Reading them in concentrated form like this, their weakness shows a bit, especially if one is more used to more complex plots and stores.

However, it was fun while it lasted
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

gordon george hobley
3.0 out of 5 stars Poorish value for money
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 17, 2016
Stories are the expected quality and good that they are available but just 81 pages and 5 stories seems a bit mean.
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