Customer Reviews

The Innocent Spy

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***BEWARE ***
As so often happens with many editions, this title THE INNOCENT SPY is the rather innocuous AMERICAN OR NON-UK re-titling of the first of Wilson's stated series of novels featuring Detective Inspector Ted Stratton(otherwise known as STRATTON'S WAR in the UK market).
A beleaguered policeman in the West End of London, Stratton tries to solve the riddle of a woman found impaled on railings outside her flat. The inevitable question: did she jump or was she pushed? Suicide they decide. Ted however is not so sure based on a conviction that the victim would have ensured she put her teeth in and had clean underwear on.
The seamy side of London in 1940 is particularly well conveyed and in Wilson's singular way, she weaves seamlessly in tandem the stories of Stratton and unhappily married Diana Calthrop's somewhat reluctant entry as an upper class 'spy'. Quite out of her league, Diana is rather expertly manipulated by not one, but two, particularly smarmy upper crust figures. In a society still heavily obsessed with class, none of these characters seem to merit much sympathy. Throw in side themes about Oswald Mosley and the Fascist movement (known as 'blackshirts') that Calthrop is trying to infiltrate, and this has the potential to be a meaty and interesting tale.
A thorough researcher of the history of WWII, Wilson manages to convey the real flavour of the `40s through spot-on dialogue and clever description. Ultimately there's only so much about child evacuees, the rigours of rationing, homophobia, Digging for Victory, and Anderson shelters that one can swallow perpetually in film and book wartime settings but she manages to inject just the right amount of scrupulously researched 'touches' - wonderful grassroots minutiae of everyday life are nicely interspersed. For those who didn't live in it, by 1940 life was still generally continuing as normal until the Blitz when a gradually burgeoning cloud of fear and uncertainty of imminent annihilation gripped everyone. Also, by 1940 no one had any idea of the starker horrors to come - innocence, bonhomie and trust all took a horrid knock. Perhaps because of hindsight and the counter-effect of our wartime knowledge due to today's information overload, this is a particularly difficult concept to grasp by modern readers but at that time the paralysis induced by fear, and the apprehension and prejudice, too often came down to simple ignorance.
Overall, this is an interesting premise for a series but sometimes the content is difficult to read.

This story seemed to have been written by someone who no longer cared. Halfway through the book, I stopped caring. It was very amateurish. The characters simply did not ring true, and seemed to be rushed, almost as if she is behind a deadline from her publisher.