Sign of the Cross

March 4, 2013
Blood, brutality, and betrayal run through Mogford’s second Spike Sanguinetti novel (after 2012’s Shadow of the Rock) as the Gibraltar lawyer scours Malta in an attempt to solve the apparent—and unexpected—murder-suicide of his uncle and aunt, David and Teresa Mifsud. Why would an aging art historian kill his wife, who devoted her life to helping African refugees? While Spike’s father, Rufus, who has accompanied him from Gibraltar, arranges the double funeral, Spike reunites with his ex-girlfriend, Zahra. The lawyer moves from the dispiriting refugee camps to dinner amid decaying splendor with an aging Maltese baron to discovering a fresh murder, to being assaulted by a mysterious stranger. Unfortunately, some sloppy inconsistencies (e.g., in a rape scene, the victim’s wrists are tied to a table leg yet she has a free hand to clutch her robe) mar the otherwise engaging plot. Agent: Nicola Barr, Greene & Heaton (U.K.).

February 15, 2013
In the second novel of his series (Shadow of the Rock, 2012), Mogford sets up his unconventional hero for a third volume in the violent world of Gibraltar-based attorney Spike Sanguinetti. Spike, whose family originally hails from Malta, returns there with his aging father, Rufus, when his father's brother, David, and his beloved wife, Teresa, are found dead, victims of what police say is a murder-suicide. But Spike and his dad know that something is wrong. David loved his kind, beautiful wife, and their late-in-life marriage had been a source of great joy to both of them. Police believe David, an art expert, cut Teresa's throat after discovering she had a lover. But those who knew Teresa, a generous woman who worked for a nonprofit refugee relief agency, say that the only love outside of David that Teresa possessed was her dedication to the agency's clients. Slowly, Spike begins to realize that David and Teresa fell victim to something much more sinister than a love triangle. And when young women, including one from Teresa's camp and another from Spike's past, also disappear, Spike joins forces with family friends who are also quasi-celebrities on Malta and starts questioning the investigation. Soon, he is thrust into a dangerous cat-and-mouse game that he neither prepared for nor understands. Mogford opens with a graphic homicide, and while his writing is atmospheric and evocative of the exotic locales his characters occupy, his prose tends to come off as dark and brutal. Romantic souls who want to escape for a few hours to Malta, or in a lesser capacity, Gibraltar, will learn plenty about their histories and customs, but there's nothing pretty about either the settings or the characters they'll meet along the way. The author overuses changes in tense as a literary device, throwing in the requisite ho-hum evil conspiracy or two, but the cons don't outweigh the pros in this hard-hitting, no-holds-barred novel that will leave readers panting for the next installment.

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Starred review from March 1, 2013

Once again, Gibraltarian attorney Spike Sanguinetti confronts unwanted violence in his personal life, when his aunt and uncle die in their Malta home, apparently from a murder/suicide. Spike senses this is homicide and sets out to prove it. Readers know that the killer is looking for a valuable painting, but Spike must trace his uncle's last days before he can make that connection. Along the way, he reconnects with his former lover, Moroccan refugee Zahra, and she opens doors for him in the Maltese community. Trouble is, the killer keeps pace with Spike and Zahra, and he has no compunction about taking more lives. By the time Spike realizes that human trafficking is part of the equation, Zahra is missing. VERDICT Starting with a tortuous opening and rarely letting up, Mogford's superbly plotted thriller (after Shadow of the Rock) is just as riveting as his debut. Hang on for twists, layers of deception, and unexpected betrayals. Partner with Conor Fitzgerald (art and organized crime) and Harry Bingham (human trafficking).

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2013
Lawyer and reluctant sleuth Spike Sanguinetti returns (following Shadow of the Rock, 2012) in this second installment in Mogford's captivating series set on the island of Gibraltar. This time Spike leaves the Rock with his aging father to attend the funerals of his aunt and uncle in Malta. The violent death of his relativeshis uncle apparently stabbed his wife before turning the knife on himselfdoesn't sit well with Spike, who decides to nose around a little before doing his job of executor of the wills. His nosing prompts a reunion with former girlfriend Zahra, who is working as a translator in Malta's immigration camps, but just as suddenly as Zahra reappears in Spike's life, she disappears again. Setting is clearly Mogford's trump card, and he does for Malta in this episode what he did for both Gibraltar and Tangier in the first book, contrasting old and new worlds while forcing his characters to walk the delicate fault line between the two. Spike Sanguinetti is a younger, sexier, unmarried but still sensitive version of Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti, and his adventures may eventually attract a Leon-size audience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)