Review date: 6/11/2000
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 1964
Published: 1962
In this Mary Stewart thriller, the exotic location is Crete (before mass tourism); the young heroine works at the British embassy in Athens, and is taking a holiday with the older cousin who brought her up - at least in her teens - when she comes across a man in the middle of the countryside who has been shot.
In many ways, The Moon-Spinners is too much a rewrite of My Brother Michael to be really successful; it ends up being one of Stewart's most lacklustre novels. The Greek background is gorgeous, but she has written the same story too often for it to work this time. This isthe last time she sticks so closely to the formult, and it was probably about time she moved on.
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