A Season for Spies: A Lane Winslow Prequel

In this lively prequel to Whishaw’s 12-book series following translator and WWII intelligence officer Lane Winslow, which began with A Killer in King’s Cove, a young Lane gets her first undercover field assignment in December 1940. Disguised as a “little secretary going for a short winter holiday” at her grandparents’ home in the Scottish village of Broughton, Lane is tasked with escorting another agent—posing as her fiancé—on a mission to ferret out an enemy spy who’s embedded himself in the area. The assignment is given grudgingly by Lane’s boss, Commanding Officer Barkley, who is miffed at “having to send a twenty-year-old girl instead of someone... well, experienced, and male.” Lane, however, quickly proves her competence, managing to get her charge to Scotland despite the disruptions of a bitter snowstorm. The biggest challenges, though, come from maintaining her cover story despite prodding from nosy townsfolk, and eventually, a violent confrontation with Broughton’s resident German spy. Briskly paced and blissfully free of the contrived romance its premise might imply, this tale of Christmastime espionage goes down smooth. (Oct.)