Richard and Frances Myles are preparing for their annual European summer vacation in 1939 when they are visited at their Oxford college by an old friend who has a seemingly simple job for them. But in the heightened atmosphere of pre-war Europe, nobody is above suspicion, in fact the husband and wife are being carefully monitored by shadowy figures.
This was Helen MacInnes' first book and remains one of her best. She was a popular writer of spy novels for 45 years. Frances and Richard Myles are asked by an old friend to see if the head of an European underground railroad is still in place. This is before Britain is drawn into what will become WWII. While following clues backwards from person to person down the "railway", they discover that the open, friendly Germany they have loved has changed under the Nazi regime.
This is both an exciting spy story and an interesting look at the pre-war Germany. This book was written as the Nazis increased power and published in 1941. It seems surprisingly true to life and a fellow reviewer explains why:
She married Gilbert Highet, a Classics scholar, in 1932 and translated German literature with him. Like the characters in this novel, both her and her husband spoke fluent German and spent their summers travelling in Europe. Gilbert Highet also served as an MI6 British intelligence agent and his wife's novels were so realistic that her third book, "Assignment in Brittany" was required reading for Allied intelligence agents about to be sent to work with the French Resistance. As you can tell, you are in safe hands for a realistic novel about Europe in 1939, which is where Above Suspicion is set.
I didn't know all that but it helps explain why the book is so good. I haven't reread this for many years and was happy to find it remains as good as I remembered.
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