Under Orion

Anna Peters #3

by Janice Law

Anna Peters, the unorthodox New World Oil Company researcher, gets tapped for a delicate mission to pre-unification Germany: collect an East German oil chemist who has discovered how to separate oil from sea water. If genuine, the new process means huge profits. Philip McKenzie, New World Oil’s brilliant chief chemist, assures Anna and her boss that everything is on the level.

Anna thinks this may be too good to be true, and when she and McKenzie arrive in Germany she finds out that fraud is the least of her worries. The German chemist and his thuggish brother have their own agendas and some very nasty skills. And the gifted, mercurial Philip Mckenzie has a bad habit—putting himself, and Anna, in danger.

183 pages, Hardcover

First published July 17, 1978

About the author

Janice Law (b. 1941) is an acclaimed author of mystery fiction. The Watergate scandal inspired her to write her first novel, The Big Payoff (1977), which introduced Anna Peters, a street-smart young woman who blackmails her boss, a corrupt oil executive. The novel was a success, winning an Edgar nomination, and Law went on to write eight more in the series, including Death Under Par (1980) and Cross-Check (1997).

After Death Under Par, Law set aside the character for several years to write historical mysteries The Countess (1989) and All the King’s Ladies (1986). After concluding the Peters series, she wrote three stand-alone suspense novels: The Night Bus (2000), The Lost Diaries of Iris Weed (2002), and Voices (2003). Since then, Law has focused on writing short stories, many of which appear in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Fires of London (2012) is her most recent novel. She lives and writes in Connecticut.

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Under Orion is the first book I've read by author Janice Law. It is the 3rd book in her Anna Peters series. Anna Peters works for New World Oil as a sort of fixer. In this story she journeys to West Germany with one of New World's scientists to try and negotiate a deal with an East German scientist who claims to have developed a process for extracting oil from bilge water.
The mission becomes a dangerous adventure. Are the two East Germans playing the company? Is Martin, the scientist, working against the company? And what is the secret life he seems to be living? The story moves along at a steady pace and bodies start to crop up. Are the East German intelligence services trying to stop the deal? Is it the West Germans? Who are these two brothers?
It's definitely a different kind of thriller, a combination of spy thriller and industrial espionage. There are some scary people and a chase that leads across Germany.
It's not a perfect story but still entertaining. We learn a bit about Anna and her friends and what kind of work she does. Now I've got to find the first two books in the series to see how her character was introduced. Glad I finally had a chance to explore this series. (3 stars)

[Glen U · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Under Orion" is Janice Law's 3rd book in the Anna Peters series. Anna, an independent, smart, troubleshooter for a world wide oil company, is once again thrown into the fray of corporate skulduggery. Once again, her slightly skewed moral compass results in a positive outcome, although as in previous books, she does the "right" thing by her standards, and things work out for the best. A very appealing character, a tightly written tale. and a satisfying story for the reader. One aside is that Anna is leaving the corporate arena to open her own shop, and hopefully, will continue to entertain and enthrall her fans.