A SEASON FOR SPIES

A prequel for Lane Winslow: Not yet a sleuth in the wilds of British Columbia, she’s on a dangerous mission for Britain during World War II.

Given her facility for languages, Lane is working as a translator, a dull job that gets exciting when her boss reluctantly asks her to meet “someone off the east coast of Scotland and take him home to a nice Christmas with your grandparents.” Then he gives her a gun and snowshoes. Her cover story is that she’s meeting a cousin for a ramble and then taking her fiancé to her grandparents’ for Christmas. In fact, she’s picking up Marc Nowak, a double agent being dropped off by a German submarine. In the meantime, Lane’s grandparents are making do with a sweet helper who’s a hopeless cook. While out collecting greens for decorations, Gran finds a military bag hanging from a tree limb and gets strict orders to hide it until it can be picked up. On the train to Scotland, Lane meets Freda Beauville, a friend from Oxford with a dim view of Britain’s chances in the war. They part in Edinburgh, where the unexpectedly heavy snow proves a real challenge for Lane, who’s due at the rendezvous in two days. Using the snowshoes, she reaches a farm where she wangles a meal before setting off again to an inn, escaping an amorous landlord and reaching the shore in time to overpower Freda, who’s pretending to be the escort. Once Freda is jailed, Lane and Marc set off for the cottage of Lane’s grandparents, where more danger awaits.

A delight for fans of intelligent, strong-willed sleuths like Maisie Dobbs and Phryne Fisher.