Customer Reviews

The Innocent Spy

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Note: This novel was originally published in the UK under the title Stratton's War.

Ted Stratton is a London Detective Inspector who can't let go of the case of the death of former silent film star Mabel Morgan. Morgan is found impaled on fence railings below her apartment window, and her death is chalked up to suicide or accident. Stratton is ordered to forget about the case, but he continues to investigate on the side.

Diana Calthrop is a young woman in an unhappy marriage who has her first job working in the War Office. She is recruited by MI-5 to infiltrate a fascist group called the Right Club and to spy on Sir Neville Apse, a War Office higher-up who is suspected to have fascist connections.

Stratton's investigations of the Morgan case and of the murder of a man found dead at a construction site both lead him to Apse, but his Chief Inspector orders him not to pursue that angle----the British class system won't allow it. Then, however, Diana's boss arranges for Stratton to be seconded to the War Office to assist in the Apse investigation.

Laura Wilson paints an atmospheric picture of London in 1940, when the bombs rained down nightly, families sent their children to live in the country (as Stratton and his wife Jenny have done with their young son and daughter), and women who had been bred only for marriage (like Diana) find themselves with jobs and lives of their own. Wilson also gives the reader a real sense of the effect of the class system and how attitudes about sex roles and sexual orientation affected the characters' lives.

Though I admired Wilson's ability to portray time and place vividly, there were some real weaknesses with this book. Diana's story descends into a subplot about an illicit affair that is described interminably and in a romance-novel style at odds with the rest of the book. The book becomes bogged down in a repetitive plot. And, while Ms. Wilson is skilled at depicting the time and place of the book's action, she is much less successful at portraying characters who seem alive and interesting.

This is the first in a series that is on its third entry (in the UK). I will probably read the next volume in the series because this entry shows some promise and because I'm so interested in the London World War II setting. If that were not a particular interest of mine, I would be unlikely to read further.

In 1944 London, the war that has no end has taken its mental toll on the stiff upper lipped British. In that environment, Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Ted Stratton struggles with his morale as he conducts investigations into hideous crimes.

When the corpse of Dr. Reynolds of Middlesex Hospital is found with head traumas, the initial assumption is falling debris caused a misfortunate accident. However DI Stratton nonetheless digs a bit deeper to rule out a clever homicide. He soon learns Reynolds chased after the nurses at his hospital and allegedly failed to provide proper care to patients who died from his seemingly neglect. Stratton begins to believe a killer works at the hospital, but who he or she is remains just out of reach. Meanwhile Dr. James Dacre continues to pose as a physician though never trained.

The latest Stratton WWII British police procedural is an entreating whodunit as the fog of war even in the home-front makes the case that much more complicated. Stratton is fabulous as he os depressed about the endless fighting but diligent about his job. Although the climax seems improbable, fans will enjoy Laura Wilson's exciting historical mystery.

Harriet Klausner

I enjoyed this book. Although it was a bit slow moving, that seems to fit the time period and place: World War II London. DI Ted Stratton and MI5 agent Diana Calthrop (inspired by real life agent Joan Miller) are embroiled in murder, espionage and blackmail with the London blitz as a constant background.
There has been some criticism of the flaws in the character of Diana. True, at times I wished I could slap some sense into her, but realistically, the upper class young women of the time truly were that naive. They went from privileged, sheltered lives into wartime jobs with little, if any, training. The rules they lived by changed and they had to find a way to cope with these massive changes.
I recommend this to readers of British police procedurals, World War Two stories, and historical mysteries. It is said to be the first in a series focusing on DI Stratton.

Reading the dithering reviews of my fellow readers, I feel stunned. Does anybody like complex, slowly unraveling books anymore. Nobody seems to have time or patience left to immerse themselves into different era or world.
Laura Wilson wrote an exceptional historical mystery. London in 1940 is portrayed with perfect color and atmosphere. This canvas of people trying to make sense in a crazy time,is rich and just about flawless. And then the reviewers ramble about slow plo or enability to feel for characters and other utter and complete rubish. If you don't have the time or attention span for real books, stick to derivative drivel churned by the top bestsellers. God knows there is plethora of them.

I am about halfway through the book and am doing something I never do-- giving up on finishing a book. I kept thinking, surely it will get better, maybe I just don't get British culture of the 40s, I have to keep plugging along. But no, I just don't enjoy reading this book in the least, and have no interest in even finding out what happens next, which usually pushes me to finish reading less than stellar books. It is boring and feels incomplete. The plot is not well-executed, but could have been saved if the characters had been well-developed, but, nope, fail in that area as well.

Halfway through the book and I still don't like any of the characters. Few of them feel real. The book seems like it was written by someone with very little understanding of people or human nature, or who has some serious biases for and against certain kinds of people. Few of the characters are engaging or likeable and it seems like the author doesn't like women very much, as they are almost all portrayed in a slightly negative, less intelligent way. In fact, if I hadn't seen the author's picture on the back flap, I would have thought a misogynistic older man wrote the book. Hopefully her other books get better, but honestly, I'm not going to take the risk of finding out myself. So many other more interesting fish in the sea...

Yeah, I'm just not getting this one. The "starred review" and the blurbs by Laura Lippman and others drew me in. But I'm puzzled, cuz it's just wordy and cumbersome and plodding. I'm a quarter of the way through and just don't care about the characters. Nor can I detect much plot development so far. Perhaps it all comes together at the end, but I don't think I'll make it that far. Rare for me, but I think I'll leave this unfinished. If you want to try it, borrow it from the library. Don't invest.

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.

It was an interesting plot but I'm not sure if the heroine was realistically illustrated.