Tony Broadbent

Although in many ways more exciting than his earlier book 'The Smoke', this second one is somehow less satisfying altogether.
Our cat-burglar friend Jethro is one more drawn into the world of espionage by Colonel Walsingham and Simon Bosanquet. This time the stakes are very high indeed,and involve Oswald Mosley and his gang of thugs plus the Duke of Windsor and his involvement with the Nazi's.
The story fairly whips along,albeit Broadbent rather goes berserk about two-thirds into his story and just throws everything in. Over-gilding the lily in fact.
This apart, Jethro is a great character,who I shall miss,as this seems to be his swan-song.… (mere)

In Jethro,Tony Broadbent has created a unique character. Both this book and the follow-up 'Spectres in the Smoke' are set in a London of the late 1940's,a London that is as remote to most readers of today as the Middle Ages. Onto the scene comes our anti-hero Jethro,who is an expert cat-burglar and jewel-thief. he is also a throughly decent bloke.
He sets off to rob a foreign Embassy,but what starts off as a fairly easy job turns into a much more difficult proposition. He discovers another burglar already on the premises and finds that one of London's crime bosses is becoming a little too interested in him.
Worse still is the eventual knowledge that he has attracted the attention of the British Secret Service.
A throughly enjoyable read,with a cast of Cockney characters that the reader can empathise with,as well as some really nasty villains.… (mere)