The overlap between the skills of an investigative journalist and those of a spy is wide in Henry Porter’s gripping new thriller. His heroine, M.I.5 agent Slim Parsons, whose last undercover assignment ended in disaster, gets a new mission: infiltrate a muckraking Web site that the Security Service suspects is hacking into national-security databases. The fact that a few of the site’s staffers descend from some of Bletchley Park’s legendary codebreakers gives the book a historical dimension, while their truth-telling mission nudges Slim down a twisty path. Porter’s experience as a journalist makes for a deep appreciation of his spy’s dilemma.
This gently feminist, historical “what if ” novel will be catnip to fans of golden-age mysteries. It’s 1931, and writers Dorothy Sayers (who narrates), Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, and Baroness Emma Orczy, calling themselves “the Queens of Crime,” team up to solve the real-life murder of a young British nurse in France. Marie Benedict lets her characters’ distinct personalities bloom as their literary skills translate into a genuine investigation.
