Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is an entertaining, twisty mystery/thriller set in 1951 post-WWII and the characters are students at Oxford University. Ginevra Bishop is the daughter of a viscount and is studying to prove she’s more than a debutante. Sidney Braithwaite is a war veteran trying to get past his nightmares and improve his situation so he doesn’t have to return to being a miner in his small hometown. The duo have an unfortunate first meeting and after that, have little contact with each other.

Enter the British secret service, who enlist the couple to track down a Soviet spy at the university after their agent was poisoned and killed. Sidney, who conducted intelligent work during the war, does not like having a civilian, and a debutante to boot, involved in this complicated case. But Ginevra proves to be very clever and brave with great instincts, and Sidney is forced to see her in a new light. It doesn’t stop him being protective of her though, which troubles him because it’s been a long time since he’s let anyone in behind his defenses. Meanwhile, the case gives Ginevra the confidence she was lacking and the knowledge that she can do anything she sets her mind to.

I listened to the audio of this book and the narrator did a fantastic job portraying the various characters in the book. There were so many privileged, pompous men in the story and the narrator did a great job conveying their entitled personalities. The case is interesting and complicated and you have to really listen closely to catch everything. The book slowed down a bit in the middle, but after that the action picked up speed until the end. The book came to a satisfying end and left an opening for another book in the future.

I received a complimentary audiobook from Macmillan Audio and NetGalley. All opinions are my own.