My plan was to tell you about two books this week, but the second one is quite long and I haven’t finished it in time. It would be silly to rush something so enjoyable just to keep to an arbitrary timetable, so one book it is!

I haven’t read a good spy thriller for some time (or perhaps I have but have forgotten all about it!). Anyway, I really enjoyed this debut and would love to read more in the series. Here is the blurb:

”LISBON, 1943. After escaping from Nazi-Occupied France, SOE agent Elisabeth de Mornay, codename Cecile, receives new orders: she must infiltrate high society in neutral Lisbon and find out who is leaking key information to the Germans about British troop movements. As Solange Verin, a French widow of independent means, she will be able to meet all the rich Europeans who have gathered in Lisbon to wait out the war. One of them is a traitor and she must find out who before more British servicemen die.

Complications arise when ‘Solange’ comes to the attention of German Abwehr officer, Major Eduard Graf. As they get to know each other, she struggles to keep her lies close to the truth.

But in a city that is filled with spies, how can she tell who is friend, or foe?”

I wrote this quick review on Goodreads and awarded the book four out of five stars:

City of Spies by Mara Timon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book and was totally glued from start to finish. It is an excellent debut novel set mainly in Portugal during WWII. The book is a highly entertaining mix of genres. There are spies, intrigue, romance, thrills and danger. Our heroine is brave, feisty, intelligent and handy in a fight.

I will definitely watch out for the sequel!

View all my reviews

I am currently reading the book above, which is the second part of Kate Mosse’s The Burning Chambers series. Unless illness or some other event intervenes, I will write about the book in next week’s Reading Roundup post.

Until then, Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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