Manda Scott: A Treachery of Spies, 9780552176491, paperback, Corgi

 

Manda Scott’s “A Treachery of Spies” has one of the most complex plots of any spy novel I have ever read.  It is also brilliant and a masterpiece of thriller writing.  I cannot get over how the author created this complex story and kept a check on names, aliases, storylines  not to talk about the extensive research she  must have done . I read the book on holiday which was a good thing as I had time to read solidly, it  kept me completely captured for all its 560 pages and until the very end all kinds of endings were possible.  

Meandering between two storylines that are connected, one during the  Resistance of Nazi occupation in France in the 1940ties and one set in Orleans, France in 2018, this thriller made me feel like I had literally lost the plot sometimes but with every chapter the pieces of the puzzle come together especially once you get to the middle of the book.

Inspector Ines Picaut is called to a cruel murder scene and is very surprised to find a still stunningly beautiful woman in her 90ties obviously assassinated with her tongue cut out as a special touch, something that was done to traitors during WW II by the Resistance.  When she is finally able to identify the woman as Sophie Destivelle, she finds no trace of her existence, her clothes were bought in the US and a card of “Elodie Duval” is sewn into her suit lining.  The car she was killed in belonged to Pierre Duval, the son of Daniel and Lisette Duval, who were famous members of the Resistance providing her a starting point for her investigation. How were the victim and the Duvals connected?  Was Sophie a member of the resistance? What follows is a breathtaking, riveting account of the work of spies in a dangerous period of time in European and French history and the human costs of heroic alliances.  I found myself thinking about some of the characters when not reading and the price they were willing to pay to liberate France from Nazi occupation.

I guarantee you an absolutely fascinating read, one of the more unusual thrillers I have ever read; unfortunately I could find no German translation yet.