A "gripping, original" novel about an ordinary young British woman sent to uncover a network of spies and war criminals in post-war Germany (Joanne Harris).
World War II is over, and Britain oversees its zone of occupied Germany through the Control Commission. Bored with her job as a provincial schoolteacher,Edith Graham takes a job with the Commission-butsheis also recruited by her cousin, Leo, in the Secret Service. To them, single, ordinary Edith is perfect spy material.
Cousin Leo wants Edith to locate Count Kurt vonStavenow, a former acquaintance who is now a notorious war criminal. To send information back to London, Edith has crafted the perfect alter ego. As cookbook author Stella Snelling, she writes a popular magazine column-embedding crucial intelligence within the recipes she collects.
But occupied Germany is awash with other spies, collaborators, and opportunists, and the closer Edith gets to uncovering vonStavenow's whereabouts-and the network of German civilians who still support him-the greater the danger.Inspired by an old family cookbook kept by her aunt, Celia Rees has crafted and gripping novel about daring, betrayal, and female friendship.