Fall: The Mysterious Life and Death of Robert Maxwell, Britain's Most Notorious Media Baron

Preston (A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies and a Murder Plot in the Houses of Parliament) takes a detailed look at the mysterious 1991 death of media mogul Robert Maxwell in this tepid outing. Maxwell was born Ludvik Hoch in 1923 to an impoverished Jewish family in Czechoslovakia. In 1939, he left his parents and siblings to fight the Nazis, linking up with the British army in 1940 and earning a Military Cross. After WWII, Maxwell became a book publisher, a Labour MP, and eventually a newspaper owner, culminating in his 1991 purchase of the New York Daily News. A bully with a reputation for shady dealing, Maxwell formed a close connection with the Israeli government, leading to reports he was an Israeli spy. Not long after millions from Maxwell’s business went missing, he took his yacht to the Canary Islands, only to later be found dead in the water. Maxwell’s checkered past, his financial troubles, and a substandard autopsy fostered suspicions that he’d either been murdered or took his own life, despite evidence suggesting his death was accidental. Uneven sourcing is a minus, and the quality of prose does nothing to enhance what amounts to the story of a rich bully that’s been told before. Readers hoping for a new take on Maxwell will be disappointed. Agent: Natasha Fairweather, RCW Literary. (Feb.)