cover image The Spies of Shilling Lane

The Spies of Shilling Lane

Jennifer Ryan. Crown, $27 (368p) ISBN 978-0-525-57649-5

Ryan (The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir) again focuses on women braving the dangers of WWII in this exciting tale of espionage and love. In 1941, Mrs. Braithwaite is stripped of her vaunted village position as the leader of the Women’s Voluntary Service for being too bossy. Mrs. Braithwaite, a woman of more gusto than height, heads to London to reconnect with her daughter, Betty, who she hasn’t seen in two years. But when she gets to Betty’s boarding house, no one has seen her in days; she also hasn’t been to work at her listed employment for years. As Mrs. Braithwaite searches for answers, she makes a reluctant companion of Mr. Norris, Betty’s landlord and a timid accountant who is worried Betty might be in trouble. Soon they discover Betty is working for British intelligence, and Mrs. Braithwaite and Mr. Norris become embroiled in a plot to root out Nazi-sympathizers in London. Mrs. Braithwaite shakes up Mr. Norris’s life in unexpected, welcome ways as they form an unlikely friendship and almost get Betty captured while she is working undercover. With its eccentric, believable characters and plot of home front intrigue, this delightful drama will appeal to fans of Martha Hall Kelly. [em](June) [/em]