Book Review: Death of a Young Lieutenant by B.R. Stateham

Book Review

Basic Details:

Book Title: Death of a Young Lieutenant

Subtitle: The Jake Reynolds Mysteries, #1

Author: B.R. Stateham

Genre: hardboiled/noir

Part of a series? Yes

Order in series: 1

Best read after earlier books in series? No

Available: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10783851-death-of-a-young-lieutenant

Overall score:

I scored this book 5/5

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Short Summary of the book:

An interview with a war veteran brings a different story than was expected. Our hero turns out to be an art thief and forger, who turns out to have a knack for playing detective.

What I liked about the book:

What initially appeared to be a possibly boring story, soon turned into an intriguing detective story.

What I didn’t like about the book:

I liked the entire book.

My favourite bits in the book:

How Jack managed to escape the Germans time after time.

My least favourite bits in the book:

I enjoyed the entire book.

Any further books in the series? Any more planned by this author?

This promises to be the first in a series.

What books could this be compared to and why?

This book stands on its own and I can’t think of a book to compare it to.

Recommendation:

Children	No
Young Adult	No
Adult	Yes

If you like detectives and war stories, this book may be the book for you.

I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Book Description by Author:

Meet Jake Reynolds. Art thief extraordinaire. His specialty is Renaissance masterpieces, with a few 'modern' selections thrown in. His modus operendi is to create an exact replica of the original and switch them with the original going to his client. His 'technique' in aging a masterpiece he developed himself. A secret he will carry to his grave. His clients are fanatical art connoisseurs who are very powerful and very rich. He worked his trade from 1903 through 1950 and retired. Never arrested---rarely suspected of his true occupation.

And unlucky. Unlucky in that, while trying to complete one of his many capers, he somehow is dragged into a murder investigation. Unfortunately he is a thief with a conscience. As the series evolves we see he develops a reputation of being a 'crackerjack detective.' All sorts of people and police departments come to him to ask for his help. But how can you solve a murder (a crime, which for him, is a crime which cannot go unpunished) and complete your own felonious endeavor without being caught?

The first book in the series is entitled, The Death of a Young Lieutenant. In the opening weeks of World War One, and as a member of a newly formed British Royal Flying Corps squadron shipped off to Belgium, he is asked by his squadron commander to prove the innocence of a young lieutenant accused of murdering an NCO. At the same time Jake wants to steal a 14th Century Jan van Eck painting. The problem is both the evidence to prove or disprove the lieutenant's guilt and the painting reside behind enemy lines. How do you prove a man's innocence and steal a masterpiece while an entire German army is breathing down your neck?

About the Author:

I am a seventy year old writer of genre fiction. And yes, my portrait was used in 1931 for the original design of Boris Karloff's Frankenstein (well, maybe I'm stretching the truth just an itsy-bitsy bit).

I write hardboiled/noir. And fantasy. And someday . . . someday I plan to make a buck two ninety-five doing it. But I'm not holding my breath.