Hero for Leanda

Mike Conway, an ocean-going yachtsman down on his luck in a tropical port, welcomes the chance to repair his fortunes when he is approached to undertake a dangerous and illegal, but highly lucrative mission. For Victor Metaxas, who planned the enterprise, it is an expansive, millionaire’s gesture on behalf of his country. For the hero-worshipping Leanda, who helped him, it is a passionate crusade. This proves to be the biggest obstacle that Conway, a self-styled “mercenary,” has to contend with. When the yacht Thalia slips out of Mombasa Harbour at the start of the adventure, the prospects seem reasonably good—but there are complications, villainous and romantic, ahead—and the trickiest part of the whole project turns out to be the journey back.

Andrew Garve has once more set a gripping and original story against an unusual background. A Hero for Leanda triumphantly achieves the high standards of realism and suspense which this author always sets himself.

Andrew Garve is the pen name of Paul Winterton (1908-2001). He was born in Leicester and educated at the Hulme Grammar School, Manchester and Purley County School, Surrey, after which he took a degree in Economics at London University. He was on the staff of The Economist for four years, and then worked for fourteen years for the London News Chronicle as reporter, leader writer and foreign correspondent. He was assigned to Moscow from 1942 to 1945, where he was also the correspondent of the BBC’s Overseas Service.

After the war he turned to full-time writing of detective and adventure novels and produced more than forty-five books. His work was serialized, televised, broadcast, filmed and translated into some twenty languages. He is noted for his varied and unusual backgrounds – which have included Russia, newspaper offices, the West Indies, ocean sailing, the Australian outback, politics, mountaineering and forestry – and for never repeating a plot.

Andrew Garve was a founder member and first joint secretary of the Crime Writers’ Association.