Plot/Summary:
When a former silent film actress is found dead outside her window during the bombing of London, Detective Inspector Ted Stratton refuses to accept the official ruling that the actress took her own life. Pursuing his own line of investigation, Stratton turns up material that catches the attention of Colonel Forbes-James with the counterespionage branch of MI5. Stratton's temporary transfer to Forbes-James's authority places him in contact with unhappy society wife, Diana Calthrop, one of Forbes- James's operatives. Gangs, Fascists and espionage make up a wartime London where Stratton and Diana unwittingly find themselves attracted to each other during the course of their investigations.  

Comments:
Atmospheric and gritty, The Innocent Spy is the first book in a series featuring Detective Inspector Ted Stratton. It blends the police procedural and espionage thriller into a compelling novel of mystery and suspense. A brief historical background note at the end of the novel outlines the link between the true characters and events of the period with the author's fictional work. The Innocent Spy was published as Stratton's War in Great Britain where it won the 2008 Ellis Peters Award for Best Historical Crime Novel. Laura Wilson is the crime fiction reviewer for the Guardian in London.

---

Reviewed by ds, 12/10. Other reviews by ds. Have you read this book? Tell us what you think!