Intriguing book that follows a brave woman throughout WW2 and after (during the trials at Nuremberg). Additional characters include a fashionista, a “normal” female friend, and a very neat fellow who acts as the heroine’s driver.
Chapters start with simple recipes that reflect what is done during the upcoming chapter. Well written, good pace, well developed characters. ( )

Edith Graham is a single school teacher living a simple, dull life with trips to London as her major excitement. Leo, a distant cousin, lifelong friend, and sometimes lover, recruits her to work in post-war Germany. Her facility with the German language and education make her an ideal candidate for the efforts to re-establish education. However, she is also recruited to do a bit of spying on the side.

Kurt is an old friend of Leo and Edith's former lover. Evidence suggests that he was involved in medical experimentation in Nazi Germany. Leo wants Edith to see if she can track him down through his wife Elisabeth.

As if she doesn't have enough on her plate, Edith finds that there are more agendas in Germany as she is recruited or used by various groups--Nazi sympathizers, those who justice for the victims, and those seeking a political advantage. She sends coded messages to a female friend in recipes to subvert the more official channels as she navigates a complex world.

This book looks at the post-WWII era and the rise of the Cold War as the various allies--Russia, UK, and America seek to establish their supremacy within the German theater. This political jockeying led to various endeavors including the American Paperclip project that helped large numbers of high ranking Nazis to share their knowledge and expertise in exchange for immunity and the devastating impact of these actions on many of their victims.

I was intrigued with the idea of a historical fiction book set during the Cold War but unfortunately this book didn’t live up to its potential. The twists and turns of spy novels were there but it was often tedious, and I was not able to build empathy for the characters leaving the plot to fall flat. I received this book as an advanced review copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. ( )

There are tons of books set in World War II but not many set in the immediate period after the war. Yes, as this book shows, it is just as ripe a period for literature as the war years.

Edith Graham is a single school teacher who lived in Coventry during World War II. As the unmarried sister she was expected to continue to live with her mother and take care of her. The family was most upset when they discovered that she had taken a posting in Germany with the British Control Commission helping to get the education system restarted in Germany. At least that was her cover story; she was also recruited by her cousin Leo who was with MI6 to learn as much as she could about Nazis who were in hiding. Leo was particularly interested in their mutual friend Kurt von Stabenow who had gone to Oxford before the war and become friendly with Leo and more than friendly with Edith. Kurt had trained as a doctor and so was an asset to the Nazi extermination and experimentation process. Edith had been devastated when she went to visit him before the war and learned that Kurt was engaged to a Prussian countess. On a later trip she met Kurt's wife, Elizabeth, and to her surprise rather liked her. Leo thought that if Edith could find Elizabeth then she would lead them to Kurt. Dori, another friend of Edith's who had been a spy during the war, also wanted to find von Stabenow because she thought he was responsible for the deaths of a number of women spies who were caught during the war. Dori wants Kurt brought to justice but Leo on behalf of the British government wants to recruit him to work in research. So everyone is using Edith for their own ends and she has mixed feelings about that. Nevertheless she is more successful than an amateur could be expected to be which draws her into danger. The ending caught me completely by surprise.

The recipes and menus that introduce each chapter really bring this book to another level. They are included because Edith uses recipes to send coded messages to Dori based upon an old cookbook. The author found just such a cookbook in her aunt's home while cleaning after her death. Her aunt had, like Edith, worked in Germany after the war and inside the cookbook there were numerous handwritten recipes which was all that remained of correspondence from that time. Such is the genesis of an intriguing book. ( )

After the end of WWII, Edith has applied and been accepted for a job with the Control Commission for Germany. The Commission oversees the occupation zone. Edith is recruited by several different groups to spy and report back. In particular, she is tasked with finding Count Kurt von Stavenow, a former lover.

This book was extremely slow moving and tedious. At times it felt like a sequel, and that important information was missing, or not dealt with sufficiently. The ending was surprising, but otherwise this book was a bust. ( )