The Stone-cold Dead in the Market Affair

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. #22

by John Oram

Vintage TV tie-in paperback

Genres: Espionage, Fiction, Adventure, Media Tie In

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Working name of Welsh writer John Oram Thomas (1906-1992) for his two Ties in the Man from U.N.C.L.E. Television sequence The Copenhagen Affair (1965) and The Stone-Cold Dead in the Market Affair (1966), the latter – unusually – being set in Wales.

Reviews

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having noticed John Oram's need for a better reference collection in his previous Man from Uncle book, The Copenhagen Affair, it continues to be true here: a tortoise is not a crustacean. It may have a shell and look a bit like a crab, but it is a reptile.

[A.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently John Oram was a Welshman who set out to disprove the assertion that you couldn't have a good thriller set in Wales. I think he succeeded. It's more than odd having Illya and Napoleon on home territory, but Oram displays a good knowledge of Wales and the Welsh, although perhaps a little clichéd at times to suit popular consumption. There are some oddities in British characters' dialogue - using words like sidewalk, fannies, truck, and trunk - but perhaps this was editing for the American market. This is a gem of a book, though, with wonderful characterisations of Napoleon and Illya, a great female lead and her trusty poodle, and a lovely mixture of rural Wales and sixties London. The story never loses pace and pulls you all the way through. A great read.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some strange reason, the title of this novel had made me worriedly assume that this was to be another affair centering on the world’s stock markets, a la the events in Book #14 ("The Cross of Gold Affair"), and I think you already know what a dunce I happen to be regarding high-stakes financial matters. But no. Rather, John Oram’s first offering since "The Copenhagen Affair" (all the way back to Book #3) presents us with a story line of a wholly different nature. That unusual title instead refers to a minor Thrush operative who is struck dead by a lorry in the marketplace of Newport, in southern Wales, and is found to be carrying a load of nearly flawless counterfeit money, in various currencies, on his person. A young, female U.N.C.L.E. agent named Blodwen happens to witness the event, and her report to Mr. Waverly in NYC leads to Illya Kuryakin and later Napoleon Solo being sent to investigate. The trail leads Kuryakin and Blodwen to the farmstead of a mysterious philanthropist and criminal reformer named Price Hughes near Corwen, in northern Wales, and later to a London nightclub run by the Chinese woman Anna Soo Lee, ultimately revealing a Thrush scheme to disrupt the world's economies by releasing 100 million pounds' worth of the funny monies.

This novel is a taut, tough and relatively brief affair (a good 20 pages shorter than the usual U.N.C.L.E. novel) that marks a huge return to form after the slapdash, amateurish effort that had been Book #21 ("The Thinking Machine Affair"). Oram, a British author, obviously knew his Wales and London very well, and he fills the Welsh section of his novel with a wealth of convincing detail; thus, the descriptions of Belle Vue Park, Royal Gwent Hospital, and St. Woollo's Cathedral in Newport. And his realistic word pictures of all the London locales (trust me, a good street map of the city will prove invaluable here), and the passing references to Worthing Prison and to Dr. Beeching, could only have come from a native's experience. More convincing detail, a la Ian Fleming, is given as regards weapons (the Walther P38, the 7.63 Mauser, the Browning automatic, and the Commando Dagger), as well as the various makes of car that are driven (a Humber Hawk, a Cortina). Our two favorite U.N.C.L.E. enforcement agents are here supplied with two more-than-helpful allies: Blodwen, one of the coolest female agents ever encountered, and an alcoholic crime reporter named Solly Gold, who seemingly knows everything that is to be known about every lowlife character in London. Like a few of the earlier U.N.C.L.E. novels, this one cleaves evenly into two discrete sections--the Welsh section and the London section--and is very interesting in that all the villains and henchmen whom we'd assumed to be major players lie dead by the book's halfway point. One bit of oddness in Oram's novel, whether deliberate or not, is the fact that it begins in Newport, Wales and concludes at Anna Soo Lee's nightclub in Newport Street, London. A bit of ironic closure there, perhaps? Readers going into this particular affair should also prepare themselves for a lot of British slang words (or perhaps you already know what a "young tearaway" is, and what the line "If he thought I'd grassed on him, he'd cut my heart out" pertains to). So yes, with its interesting and credible story line, a roster of nasty opponents, and a few well-done action sequences (Illya and Blodwen kidnapped, and then interviewed at and escaping from Price Hughes' farm; Solo's brutal fight in his hotel suite; Blodwen going up against a cretinous henchman), this is a surprisingly good effort, indeed.

Still, the seemingly inevitable flaws do crop up. For example, we have the same darn mistake that had popped up in Book #21; namely, "U.N.C.L.E." standing for "The United Network Command of Law and Enforcement," instead of "for Law and Enforcement." I don't know why that particular error frustrates the bejeebers out of me so much, but it does. We are also told somewhere that tortoises are crustaceans, which they simply are not. And then there's the matter of Illya taking a cab from his apartment (in what had previously been established as Brooklyn Heights) and making it to Waverly's office in midtown Manhattan in 10 minutes. I'm sorry, but any native New Yorker will tell you that that amount of time is simply impossible, even under the most optimal conditions. But quibbles aside, "The Stone-Cold Dead in the Market Affair" remains a most solid entry indeed, especially coming as it does this late in the series....

(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ....)

[Joss · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this after a recent flat move - must have bought it years ago in Newport. Loved the early scenes in my home town, which is portrayed accurately for 1966, but much of the plot takes places elsewhere in Wales and latterly in London.
A man is run over outside the Market and as he falls, a large number of pristine fivers fly out of his pocket and litter the street. Fortunately UNCLE agent Blodwen is on hand and promptly legs it to the nearest phone box and summons Illya Kuryakin.......
Probably for The Man from UNCLE devotees, people old enough to remember 1966 or Newportonians only! And has anyone actually ever met a Welsh woman called Blodwen?

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly acceptable diversion. Better than the last book by this author and again, he wrote a competent female character. I rather liked Blodwen and her poodle. And I appreciate that the dog survived. Had this been a modern Scandinavian crime novel that poor thing would have been gruesomely done in before the third act.
Although I'm not sure what "Feeling as wanted as a two-way stretch in a nunnery" or "Ghosts are only your father, like Santa Claus" means. And why would one "try a ferret" after failing to pick a door lock?

[David Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is ok. I’ve read the Harry w one and this one . I’d put this one behind the Harry w one.

Plus Blodwen is good.

Minus. Too much police action.
The general feel isn’t uncle enough. Wales is not an uncle location. The book is ok but does not achieve a true man from uncle feel.

[Bill Donhiser · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read like most of the series. One more to go and I will be finished

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book's best feature is almost certainly the lady companion of the week, Blodwen, who holds her own and gives Napoleon and Illya (but honestly mostly Napoleon) as much grief as they typically give each other. The dynamic between Napoleon and Illya is generally my primary criteria for how much I enjoy and would recommend the tie-ins, and this one does admirably with Blodwen in the mix, giving a strong impression of the way Gaby Teller fits into the 2015 movie adapation, though the movie characters are often a far cry from their original incarnations. It's also remarkable in that, unlike nearly every other UNCLE novel so far, Illya takes the lead in the field investigations and the narrative generally.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a different cover and is listed as book #4 on the front cover in my version.

Love it because they keep going on about the Welsh and their sleepy town habits. Also, the heroine that they team up with brings her poodle everywhere, even when on missions. Classic.

[Read1000books · Rating 3 out of 5]

U.N.C.L.E. agents Solo and Kuryakin are in the British Isles to find the source of counterfeit currency. And with a title like "The Stone-Cold Dead in the Market Affair", what's not to like!

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent book adaptation of the TV series. Great spy adventure book. This is how the CIA and FBI should operate. Recommended