June 1946 marks about a year since Olivia Nash’s war ended, but peace hasn’t reached her yet, and may never. Living in a vodka bottle, behind on her rent for her London flat, Livy’s stuck in a proofreading job at a third-rate newspaper, which she’s unlikely to keep much longer. Wartime memories plague her like the Furies, but she can’t even tell anyone or share her stories, for what she did was very hush-hush: She parachuted into France as a secret agent and fought with the Resistance. The Germans nicknamed her Spitfire.

Most people would find proofreading dull after those exploits, but for Livy, it’s killing her. She’s furious and bereft, and nothing can assuage the pain. However, just when she’s at her lowest, a man with an aristocratic bearing and an air of the skirt-chaser tracks her down, offering a job in “journalism.” Livy suspects it’s an elaborate ploy of seduction, but she has nothing left to lose, so she goes to the address on the man’s business card. And when her would-be employer, Ian Fleming, pushes the Official Secrets Act form across his desk, Livy signs. She won’t be writing or reporting; she’ll be spying.

Regrets follow. Fleming tells her that the Frenchman who betrayed her and their group leader, whom she loved, belongs to a network very much alive and kicking. The British want the names of agents in the network, as do the Soviets and Americans, and her assignment is to go to Paris and obtain the list. Livy wants nothing to do with the traitor, let alone aid his prospects for employment by His Majesty’s Secret Service. But she accepts the job all the same (otherwise, there wouldn’t be a novel), whereupon Fleming sends her to charm school for two weeks, to file down her sass and her Lancashire manners and accent.

Those scenes are a lot of fun. Rest assured that our heroine will learn how to drink tea properly and mingle with diplomats, but plenty of sass remains. In Paris, she meets an American agent to whom she’s attracted, but that’s a trap, so she turns down his repeated offers to work together. When he complains that they both want the same thing, so why not? Livy retorts, “Really now, me mum raised me right.”

Another pleasure of Spitfire is the story. Reversals bloom on almost every page, it seems, and bear lasting fruit. Double-crosses (or, shall we say, shifting alliances) continually force Livy to scramble, and, as a result, she gets into and causes plenty of trouble. She makes mistakes, sometimes bad ones, but her gifts for tradecraft and her extraordinary courage carry her through. The boys may think she’s just a pretty nonentity, but a few of them wind up on their fat behinds, sometimes literally.

Huie spends little ink on scenery, just enough to give a flavor of postwar London and Paris. Sometimes I wanted specific rather than generic descriptions, but dialogue and action do the work, and Livy’s voice is irresistible.

I don’t understand why Livy likes the American agent; then again, she’s shown poor judgment in her life about men. I’m also not convinced by a particular, crucial double-cross, despite the amount of space that the narrative gives to explain it. On a pickier note, I can’t stand the word “impact” as a verb — it’s business-speak — and I doubt very much whether Englishmen and -women of 1946 would have used it. But pickiness aside, I enjoyed Spitfire, and I think many readers would too. ( )

This was a book I couldn’t put down. Livy Nash was a spy in WWII. After the war, she had some unfinished business that needs attending to. She meets Ian Fleming and he has a mission for her - track down the traitor who killed her lover. This book keeps you on the edge of your seat as you read. I thought I had figured out what was going to happen several times but with so many twists and turns, it was knot in my stomach until the very last page. ( )

I really enjoyed this spy mystery book set after WWII. Great character development and the story keep me wanting more. I definitely will be reading the next one. ( )

I received and ARC ebook from Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you.

Spitfire was an entertaining read. The post World War II descriptions were perfect and the twist at the end was fun. It took a while for me to warm up to the central character, Livy Nash. I would have liked to have seen a bit more depth to her but hopefully this will occur as the series goes on. The first book has whetted my interest for the second, so I will be on the look out for it. All in all this was a fast paced tale that held my attention apart from a few spots where it became a little disjointed. Buy if you’re looking for a spy series to read. This is as good as any. ( )

spies, spooks, historical-research, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-novel, international-crime-and-mystery

Livy worked for British Intelligence in France during the war and a year later she is bitter, soused, and jobless when a bloke named Ian Fleming looks her up and invites her to get back in the game. From then on it's as good as it gets. Snappy spy novel with all the twists and misdirections you could hope for and truly interesting characters! Kept me rapt to the end!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )