From Publishers Weekly
British novelist Goddard's thriller of deception and conspiracy takes place in Europe between the world wars. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Guy Horton and Max Wingate, both disaffected veterans of World War I, have roamed the world as partners in various confidence games. Amid Depression-era gloom they court English heiress Diana Charnwood with hopes of quick financial gain. Their callow scheme leads, however, to murder and a harsh moral education as Guy's investigation of the homicides unexpectedly uncovers those responsible for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The author of Hand in Glove (Poseidon, 1993) begins his new novel with hijinks reminiscent of P.G. Wodehouse but soon establishes moral quandaries worthy of Graham Greene. Carefully plotted and elegantly phrased, this is at once a suspenseful mystery and a thoughtful examination of the lingering effects of evil.- Albert E. Wilhelm, Tennessee Technological Univ., CookevilleCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
This novel of intrigue is convoluted and somewhat implausible, but captivating nonetheless. The cast features two confidence artists, a beautiful heiress and her aunt, the heiress's fabulously wealthy father, and his international group of WWI profiteers. The adventure that ensues ranges across much of Western Europe; it demands a broad range of accents from the narrator and the ability to keep the listener from getting lost in the complexity of the plot. Bill Wallis does all of this terrifically well. His narration is pleasant and easy to follow, and each of the large cast of characters sounds different. Wallis is especially good at making women sound real without resorting to a falsetto. R.E.K. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Kirkus Reviews
Then tables are turned with a vengeance when two con men try to turn a 1931 shipboard romance into a spot of genteel blackmail--only to find the family that they've targeted single-handedly started WW I. Originally jealous of his old friend Max Wingate's amatory success with heiress Diana Charmwood, Guy Horton recoils in amazement when Max announces that he's too much in love with the lady to let her fearsome father, investment mogul Fabian Charmwood, buy him off--and then recoils in horror when Max's elopement with Diana, the details to which Guy had sold Charmwood, is interrupted by the appearance of the great man's corpse, sending Max into hiding and Guy determined to clear his name. Max will turn up again, but only as Guy and Diana are lying in each other's grief-stricken arms in Venice, where a group of Charmwood's creditors, who can't believe the news that his vast empire is worthless, have commissioned Guy to pry the whereabouts of his hidden assets out of Diana and her Aunt Vita. But the worst, as usual with Goddard, is still to come: scruffy journalist George Duggan tells a wild tale linking Charmwood--via an unholy cabal of investors calling themselves the Concentric Alliance--to a plot to assassinate Franz Ferdinand in order to make the world safe for the armaments they've been investing in. Though Guy's story has lost every shred of plausibility by now, the continuing refrain of threat and counterthreat (will the Concentric Alliance be able to silence Guy before he's able to publish the damning evidence against them? whom can he trust in his flight from the perilous circle? and will he ever learn not to trust the sleek Diana?) will still keep you up much later than it should. High-toned, preposterous romantic period suspense from an old pro (Hand in Glove, 1993; A Debt of Dishonour, 1992, etc.). -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM OUR EDITORS

In 1931, two con men plan to bilk the beautiful daughter of a wealthy munitions dealer. But their scam is rudely interrupted by the unexpected intrusion of true love, a brutal murder, intrigue and conspiracy, and a surprise attack of integrity.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Once again Robert Goddard has delivered an absolutely first-class entertainment. Closed Circle weaves a spellbinding tale of love, murder, and betrayal in a sordid world of money and deceit. The year is 1931. Guy Horton and Max Wingate are two confidence men on their way from America to England in search of their next scam. On board the Empress of Britain, they discover that they need not wait till they arrive; their next victim is one of the passengers, and one of the most beautiful women they've ever laid eyes on. Her name is Diana Charnwood, the daughter of the wealthy munitions dealer Fabian Charnwood, a legendary, somewhat reclusive millionaire. There's a trick they've performed before: Charm the daughter into an engagement to marry, then get her father to buy you off. Guy and Max make a pact: Whichever one wins Diana Charnwood's love will share his fortune with the other. But life is seldom so predictable. Who would imagine that Max would truly fall in love with Diana? And who would murder Fabian Charnwood the night Max and Diana plan to elope? When Max doesn't arrive at their designated meeting place, Guy goes looking for him, and finds Max running from the dead body of Fabian Charnwood. Did Max kill Charnwood in a fit of anger? Guy is convinced his friend is innocent, but can he prove it? Or has he stumbled into something far darker and deeper than he ever expected? From Britain to Venice to the Orient Express, the plot thickens and turns, then thickens and turns again. As Guy tracks down a conspiracy that reaches all the way back to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, he uncovers a scheme so massive in its duplicity, destructiveness, and bloodless hunger for profits that he finds within himself an integrity he never imagined he possessed. Closed Circle is a page-turner of devious twists with a labyrinthine plot that will keep you up all night, unable to sleep until the villains are unmasked and the hero is vindicated. Not

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

British novelist Goddard's thriller of deception and conspiracy takes place in Europe between the world wars. (Jan.)

Library Journal