Inspector Anders and the Ship of Fools

by Marshall Browne

When a terrorist campaign targeting executives spreads across Europe, Inspector Anders is pitted against a powerful enemy who draws him into a game of psychological warfare by sending him pieces from a classic 15th-century poem known as The Ship of Fools.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312278217
• ISBN13: 9780312278212
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

An intriguing, thoughtful series with Interpol officer

In his second outing, the introspective Italian Interpol inspector, Anton Anders, pursues a gang of terrorists who burst on the scene with the horrific bombing murder of 16 top executives engaged in a big European merger. Top-of-the-line security and an impregnable meeting place proved no barrier to the group who demand an end to the latest rash of European Union mega-mergers (which cost tens of thousands of jobs) or the killings will continue. Local police surround threatened executives with round-the-clock guards, to no avail. The terrorists elude all their precautions in a series of baffling, bizarre crimes with erudite, cryptic clues, including quotations from a 15th century poem, "Ship of Fools." Though suspicion is at first thrown on the old 60s groups, Anders is never convinced and strikes out on his own. Two sad-souled women (an ex-terrorist and a librarian) prove sources of inspiration and romantic interest, while Anders' more outgoing partner, Matucci, does much of the leg work. Though the crimes are spectacular and horrific, the primary focus stays on the one-legged, thoughtful, intuitive Anders, not yet recovered from the trauma of his last case, and bothered by mental tics and occasional hallucinations. Browne explores the changes Union has brought to Europe, some of them painful, many of them creating uncertainties for the future. The series is more absorbing and intriguing than suspenseful, with a thoughtful European point of view and a sad, appealing protagonist.

a fantastic read -- I was completely hooked!

This second Inspector Anders mystery novel is as intriguing and as compelling a read as the first book in this series. As with "The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders" this novel also starts off a little slowly at first, and seems to move between countries and cities with very little ceremony. For readers used to a more opulent style of plotting, where everything is mapped out and revealed to the littlest detail, such a restrained and sparse style (even if it is a very lyrical one) can be a little off-putting. However, I'd encourage everyone to stick it out. Not only does the effort is pay off, but the novel does pick up speed and unfolds rather briskly about a quarter way into it. And in the end, the reader is rewarded with an incredibly memorable and luscious read. Seconded to Interpol after his Sicilian adventure, Inspector Anders and his sidekick, Matucci, find themselves behind the desk pushing paper-clips and files until a terrorist cell, the Judgement Day group, opposed to globalisation takes out a room full of executives in Frankfurt. Bloody and efficient, the whole thing leaves everyone flabbergasted -- how did the terrorists get through the topnotch security in order to plant the bomb? And why are they using verses from a fifteenth century work -- THE SHIP OF FOOLS -- to frame their manifesto? Are they trying to show off their intellectual prowess? Or do they verses hint at something more sinister? As the number of murderous assaults against the business community both in Germany and France mounts, and the German and French police chase after a terrorist they are sure is behind the whole thing, Inspector Anders senses that the actual perpetrator of this atrocity has been playing the authorities completely. Following his own instincts, he goes to Strasbourg, to the birth place of Sebastian Brant (the authour of THE SHIP OF FOOLS). Beginning their own investigation, Anders and Matucci follow the clues that pits them against a very methodical and committed intelligence and that pushes them almost to the brink of insanity...Courteous, reserved, intelligent, and with his own fair share of inner demons, Inspector Anders (who describes himself as a 'rusty knight with a creaky leg) is the kind of charismatic detective that engages the imagination completely. Much of the enjoyment to be gleaned from this novel is from watching Anders grapple with inner workings of the intelligence he is up against. I enjoyed this novel completely. The mystery was a somewhat complex and intriguing one that had me glued to the pages. And I loved Marshall Browne's prose style, and the manner in which he juxtaposed the medieval histories of the European cities featured in this particular mystery with the workings of the modern world of high finance and big business. "Inspector Anders and the Ship of Fools" makes for a deeply absorbing read. And if you're a bit tired of the usual fare in police procedurals or who can do with a break from the 'cozies' should definitely g

realistic insightful look at European police department

The Judgment Day uses terrorist techniques to try to stop the development of gigantic international companies that are formed through mergers. The group uses mostly words taken from a fifteenth century manuscript, but also employ deadly tactics as when they kill sixteen high level managers from two Germany's chemical companies, that had negotiating a merger.Desperate to stop the Judgment Day organization before other homicides follow, the French police request help from Italian police officer and terrorist expert the one-legged Inspector Anders and Interpol's Detective Matucci. However, stopping the terrorists only proves slightly more difficult than obtaining cooperation from local police departments spread across Western Europe. As the Judgment Day seemingly commits impossible acts of atrocities, Inspector Anders and Detective Matucci do not seem to have made much progress on solving the case.The insights into the political rivalries even at local police precincts add depth to the exciting tale, but also slow down the action. The case is fun to follow as Anders and Matucci as they did in The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders conduct a through investigation in which the lack of cooperation hinders their efforts more than the terrorists. Fans who enjoy a realistic insightful look at European police (and for that matter American law enforcement too) will relish Browne Marshall's latest tale, Inspector Anders and the Ship of FoolsHarriet Klausner