Format: Kindle edition
Published: 14 May 2020
Genres: Historical fiction
World War II has just ended, and Britain has established the Control Commission for Germany, which oversees their zone of occupation. The Control Commission hires British civilians to work in Germany, rebuild the shattered nation and prosecute war crimes. Somewhat aimless, bored with her job as a provincial schoolteacher, and unwilling to live with her stuffy genteel parents any longer, twentysomething Edith Graham applies for a job with the Commission—but is instead recruited by the OSS. To them, Edith is perfect spy material…single, ordinary-looking, with a college degree in German. And there’s another thing—the OSS knows that Edith’s brother went to Oxford with one of their most hunted war criminals, Count Kurt von Stabenow, who Edith remembers all too well from before the war.
Intrigued by the challenge, Edith heads to Germany armed with a convincing cover story: she’s an unassuming schoolteacher sent to help resurrect German primary schools. To send information back to her OSS handlers in London, Edith has crafted the perfect alter ego, cookbook author Stella Snelling, who writes a popular magazine cookery column that embeds crucial intelligence within the recipes she collects. But occupied Germany is awash with other spies, collaborators, and opportunists, and as she’s pulled into their world, Edith soon discovers that no one is what they seem to be. The closer she gets to uncovering von Stabenow’s whereabouts—and the network of German civilians who still support him—the greater the danger.
A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review.
I’ve been a fan of Celia Rees since I was a tween, and this novel, her first adult book, has not disappointed. This novel follows Edith and Dori, a pair of very cool spies, as they bring to justice Nazis who are on the brink of getting away with their atrocities.
I love historical fiction, but I’ve never read something like this before. The attention to detail makes this novel somewhat historically accurate. It goes into Nazi Germany, touches on Israel/Palestine, explores some fantastic war heroes, and more. It’s hard not to get immersed in this novel.
Edith and Dori make wonderful protagonists, although this novel is littered with complex characters and it’s difficult to know who to trust. The twists and turns make this novel every bit gripping as a post-WWII spy novel should be.
My only critique of this novel had to be the ending. It was wildly unsatisfying, felt rushed, and I’m still not over the injustice. It almost lost a star because of the ending, but I guess the point is perhaps that you really can’t have it all.
Looking for a mystery novel with a side of epic romance? The Songbird’s Secrets is out now on Amazon.
Beatrice is attempting to set up her career as a singer-songwriter, but with juggling university, friendships, fame, and a blossoming love, life turns out harder than she expected it to be. Grappling with adoring fans and the trials of a new love will be the least of Beatrice’s worries when one day she suddenly disappears, and it’s up to her husband to put together the pieces of where she may be, only to discover that perhaps he didn’t know his wife as well as he thought he did…
Flitting between past and present, The Songbird’s Secrets is a story about how we may not necessarily know those closest to us, told through a tale woven with love, laughter, mystery and drama.
Beauty and the Bees 