Book Review | City of Spies | Mara Timon
We’re delighted to be sharing Laura’s thoughts about City of Spies by Mara Timon on the Compulsive Readers tour today.
- LISBON, 1943. When her cover is blown, SOE agent Elisabeth de Mornay flees Paris. Pursued by the Gestapo, she makes her way to neutral Lisbon, where Europe’s elite rub shoulders with diplomats, businessmen, smugglers, and spies. There she receives new orders – and a new identity. Posing as wealthy French widow Solange Verin, Elisabeth must infiltrate a German espionage ring targeting Allied ships, before more British servicemen are killed. The closer Elisabeth comes to discovering the truth, the greater the risk grows. With a German officer watching her every step, it will take all of Elisabeth’s resourcefulness and determination to complete her mission. But in a city where no one is who they claim to be, who can she trust?
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City of Spies is an exciting espionage historical novel set in Lisbon during the Second World War.
SOE agent Elizabeth De Mornay with code name Cecile was working in Paris but had to flee to neutral Portugal. On arrival however it was clear Lisbon was a city of spies and that no-one is who they claim to be.
On her journey she meets RAF officer Alex Sinclair and its clear although a great spy Elizabeth has a flaw in her choice of man.
On the hunt for a traitor in Lisbon, Elizabeth poses as Madame Solange Verin. With new acquaintances Claudine and her husband Christopher she manages to get accepted into German parties. She meets German major Eduard Graf and like before struggles to maintain a complete professionalism around certain men.
Elizabeth is a wonderful protagonist; an incredible heroine, strong, feisty and intelligent.
A great mix of both fact and fiction.
Mara Timon has always been fascinated with history, and while watching a BBC documentary on WW2 a few years ago, she began to think “what if…” She followed one “what if” after another until her first book began to emerge.
A New York-born, London-based, self-declared citizen of the world, she writes commercial espionage thrillers set during WW2. While both her characters and novel are fiction, they are based, as much as possible, on what was really happening at the time.
Mara is represented by James Wills of Watson, Little. City of Spies is her debut published by Bonnier Zaffre.
Twitter @MaraTimon Facebook MaraTimonAuthor
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