The Baroness (novels)

The Baroness is the name of a short-lived series of espionage novels by Paul Kenyon. Eight novels in the series were published from 1974 to 1975 by Pocket Books. This series of books profiles the adventures of Baroness Penelope St. John-Orsini, a voluptuous international playgirl who is also lethal secret superspy.

A former Vogue and Elle cover model, the Baroness is a "long-legged beauty in her early thirties" who runs a model agency as a cover for her espionage missions. Her preferred weapon is the Bernadelli VB .25 caliber.

She drinks martini cocktails, smokes the occasional joint, drives a red Porsche, throws lavish parties in her Rome mansion and enjoys fiery but casual sex with a series of handsome hunks, including suspected enemies she may well have to kill. Her jade green eyes, raven black hair and "explicit cheekbones" prove the perfect smokescreen. "There wasn't a line or shadow on her lovely face to show the deadly secrets that lay behind it."

Born Penelope Worthington into a Philadelphia banking family, she was educated at Miss Frothingham's Finishing School. Her father was Arthur Worthington and she sometimes recalls his wisdom with fondness. While still young, she married an older man John Stanton Marlowe, who performed "mysterious errands" for the US government. The marriage was short-lived. He died while piloting his own Gulfstream jet.

She turned to modeling and while on assignment in Italy met the Baron Reynaldo St. John Orsini, a thrill-seeking playboy. It was the Baron who "brought her to life again." Their three-year marriage was a whirlwind of jet-setting parties, fast cars and scuba diving. "Life,” he tells her, “is keener when death is looking over your shoulder."

Following a tire blow-out on his Ferrari, the Baron died in the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. Penelope inherited his money, becoming independently wealthy, but for the second time found life a "void." That is, until a government friend of her first husband recruited her. Over two years, she was trained in weaponry, close combat and martial arts, learning how to pass out under interrogation and kill a man with a hairpin.

Eight Baroness novels were published within the space of one year (1974–1975) by Pocket Books, all credited to Paul Kenyon, a house pseudonym used by book packager Lyle Kenyon Engel for Donald Moffitt. The book covers were illustrated by Hector Garrido. The titles were:

In 1975, Futura reprinted only the first four books in England, with different covers.

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