A Shark Out of Water

John Putnam Thatcher #24

by Emma Lathen

In A Shark out of Water Emma Lathen's banker character, John Putnam Thatcher, proves that he is just as able a financier and detective on the international scene as he is in his native U.S.A., just as at home in the rather exotic milieu of Gdansk, Poland, as on Wall Street. Dispatched to the western Baltic on the rumor that an excellent investment opportunity might arise--the possibility of rebuilding the Kiel Canal--Thatcher finds himself in the midst of two quite extraordinary events.

The first is the complete chaos that ensues when the canal, little-publicized but the carrier of more traffic than any other such body in the world, becomes completely snarled on a foggy night, with hundreds of boats, small and large, blindly stumbling every which way within the crowded basin. Dramatic as that is, the other event affects our friend much more personally: an official of BADA, the Baltic Area Development Association, is found murdered in the aftermath of a champagne party. The unflappable Thatcher, whose acute observations are always spiced with a quiet humor, and who is more or less above the fray, falls naturally into the role of investigator.

Lathen has been chronicling the adventures of John Putnam Thatcher for a number of years, and his character has flourished as steadily as his economic fortunes. It's no small feat to tell a story based on business and finance and make it as suspenseful and dramatically satisfying as those set in more sanguinary settings, but Lathen does it with flair, as is attested by the large following she and Thatcher have gained.

Genres: Mystery

Audio Cassette

First published November 1, 1997

About the author

Aka R.B. Dominic

Emma Lathen is the pen name of two American businesswomen: an attorney Mary Jane Latsis (July 12, 1927 -October 29, 1997) and an economic analyst Martha Henissart (b. 1929),who received her B.A. in physics from Mount Holyoke College in 1950.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/31/boo...

Reviews

[Emmanuel Gustin · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book keeps you reading, I was a bit disappointed by it. I guess because the usual witty deconstruction is absent, thus leaving the reader with a plot driven by characters who are not very well developed. We are even presented with a mystery in the personality of the (first) murder victim, which seems to be strangely split, but this is never resolved or pursued. Only Everett Gabler truly provides an entertaining note.

That said, the plot is intelligent, with characters trundling around a massive red herring created by an intelligent and unscrupulous murderer. Perhaps precisely for that reason, its final unravelling is a bit too sudden.

[John Marr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Surprisingly mediocre read marked with a thin plot, poorly developed characters and a protagonist that really doesn't do much and is almost a footnote character. Never having read Lathen, I can only speculate that I can only speculate that one of the collaborators behind the Emma Lathen pseudonym sat this one out (she died around the time the book came out). And one kvetch: the real life "Great Salad Oil Swindle" cited in the book had nothing to do with Billy Sol Estes. Mr. Estes specialized in more complicated frauds involving anhydrous ammonia tanks and cotton allotments.

Perhaps the lesson here is never start a series at the wrong end.

[Jean Bonilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always good to see what John Thatcher and his colleagues, especially Everett Gabler, are up to. This story doesn’t have the same gripping suspense of several of her others, however. I would have been more surprised by the villain if he hadn’t been someone I disliked from the start.

One feature I found interesting was the snapshot of Poland in the middle of its transition to the West. When I first read the book, we saw the Visegrad nations on a fairly well defined path - NATO, EU, democracy. Then I nodded and said, “Yes, that’s happening” to myself. Given where both Poland and Hungary find themselves today, it is sad to look back at that scene of vision, hope, and promise.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this excellent series over the years, so it’s a little sad that this last (probably) adventure for banker / sleuth John Thatcher is subpar. The most fun was always the interplay among him and his colleagues, but this book only includes the wonderful Everett Gabler.
As always, however, we’re treated to the elegant, almost Austenesque language of Emma Lathen. She does have a way with words.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Thatcher gets caught up in the complications of a shipping disaster followed by the murder of the chief of staff who oversees eastern European shipping. Emma Lathen is back to creating the vivid personalities of business people and their hidden motivations.

Read 2 times

[Carl Brookins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since her first in 1961, Emma Lathen, a pair of excellent writers, has written a number of novels that deal with the financial workings of Wall Street. The principal character in over 20 books is widower John Putnam Thatcher, now CEO of the Sloan Guarantee Trust, a staid, conservative commercial bank in New York. It may sound like a chancy idea, to base a series on the world of high finance without throwing in lots of sex and bizarre goings on. It is testament to the genius and the rectitude of the author that such easy solutions are nowhere present. Lathen has always made this sometimes arcane world mesmerizing and understandable.

All is consistent in this latest entry in the series. The characters are strong, fascinating, unusual, and the plot of this novel, is never out of sight. Set in the murky, shifting world of small emerging European nations after the fall of the Soviet Empire, we follow Thatcher into an interesting opportunity for investment by the Sloan in the seedy, dark, port of Gdansk, Poland. Pressure is building to enlarge an important German canal that connects the Baltic to the North Sea.

But all is not as it seems and Thatcher must weave his way through murder, political and commercial chicanery, and the evil that big business sometimes generates. Readers will be drawn inexorably into the sometimes dour, sometimes opulent machinations of the principal players. The story begins in deadly fog with a visceral, irresistible rush, and it doesn’t let go until the very end. A fine, fine novel.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read all but two of the earlier books in this series. Primarily cause it is always sad to finish off a series (this one was finished the year of Mary Jane Latsis' death and she was one of the two authors.)

This one, takes us overseas to Gdansk Poland, which means an extra interesting way to learn about various cultures and situations. The murders in this story are sad, though the first was not surprising. The reflective ending of Thatcher was interesting. Made you ponder how many more really fascinating tales these ladies had stored inside them. In the book Oblonski, the police detective, asks Thatcher and another how they don't get fooled in banking... and they say, They never believe anything they hear or read. The policeman laughs and tells them, they are actually like the police themselves.

And in this story, seeing with your own eyes, is very very important. :)

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Emma Lathen's books with the banker John Putnam Thatcher. There are no car chases, not a lot of violence. He solves the murder(s) by logic, by figuring out what had to have happened. They are a little outdated. Usually the businessmen are all male, although this one did have a powerful female character. This book was written in 1997, but I think a businessman such as John Thatcher would have had a cell phone or there should be an explananation about why he refuses to carry one.

In this book, John Thatcher has to go to Poland to deal with his banks interests and gets involved with the chaos caused by snarled canal traffic and the ensuing murder.

[Vicki Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 24th, and presumably last, book in the Thatcher mystery series. Unfortunately it's not one of the best ones, taking place in Poland and Germany not long after the opening up of Eastern Europe. A zealous bureaucrat is killed when he discovers irregularities in shipping in the Baltic. I generally don't enjoy the books set in foreign lands - the domestic ones seem more interesting. I wish she was still writing. I'd love to read her take on Credit Default Swaps and Collateralized Debt Obligations. Hopefully the Sloan Bank would have steered clear of questionable practices.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

After more than 30 years of writing this series, the authors continue to maintain a fresh prespective and engaging humor. The characters are interesting, especially those who are added with each adventure. I believe this is the last book in the series and I am very sorry to think so.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this whole series of books some years ago and liked them. It was interesting to go back and read this one.....the banking and investment banking businesses have changed so much over the years that the book seemed dated. I still liked it, but I think there are better books in the series.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#24 in the John Putnam Thatcher series. Finale of estimable series featuring a banker.

John Putnam Thatcher mystery - Gdansk, Poland and Kiel, Germany are the settings for problems at the Kiel Canal and murder within the Baltic Area Development Association.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big Emma Lathen fan, but this is not one of the best. Not bad, mind you, and much better than many a mystery out there. Just not up to the usual JP Thatcher standard.