"A perfect summer read; gripping, original, well-drawn and
compassionate"--Joanne Harris
"Celia Rees is a superb writer, and this novel has one of the most
irresistible and unique story hooks I've ever come across. This book
deserves to be huge!"--Sophie Hannah
A striking historical novel about an ordinary young British woman sent
to uncover a network of spies and war criminals in post-war Germany that
will appeal to fans of The Huntress and Transcription.
World War II has just ended, and Britain has established the Control
Commission for Germany, which oversees their zone of occupation. The
Control Commission hires British civilians to work in Germany, rebuild
the shattered nation and prosecute war crimes. Somewhat aimless, bored
with her job as a provincial schoolteacher, and unwilling to live with
her overbearing mother any longer, thirtysomething Edith Graham applies
for a job with the Commission--but she is also recruited by her cousin,
Leo, who is in the Secret Service. To them, Edith is perfect spy
material...single, ordinary-looking, with a college degree in German.
Cousin Leo went to Oxford with one of their most hunted war criminals,
Count Kurt von Stavenow, who Edith remembers all too well from before
the war. He wants her to find him.
Intrigued by the challenge, Edith heads to Germany armed with a
convincing cover story: she's an unassuming Education Officer sent to
help resurrect German schools. To send information back to her Secret
Service handlers in London, Edith has crafted the perfect alter ego,
cookbook author Stella Snelling, who writes a popular magazine cookery
column. She embeds crucial intelligence within the recipes she collects.
But occupied Germany is awash with other spies, collaborators, and
opportunists, and as she's pulled into their world, Edith soon discovers
that no one is what they seem to be. The closer she gets to uncovering
von Stavenow's whereabouts--and the network of German civilians who
still support him--the greater the danger.
With a unique, compelling premise, Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook is
a beautifully crafted and gripping novel about daring, betrayal, and
female friendship.
