Rhys Bowen has painted a broad canvas, and it's filled with action, suspense, and the period detail and fascinating characters that she's known for. With a length of almost four hundred pages, I am happy to report that I wanted it to go on for at least another hundred. There are many characters in this story, and although I didn't have a speck of trouble keeping them all straight, inevitably one or two whom I was most interested in got (what felt like) short shrift.

Two of the period details that I really appreciated were Bowen's giving readers a feel for living in an English country house during the war, and how there were so many clandestine agencies at work in England-- and they were all trying to keep what they were doing secret from all the other agencies.

Even though there's not really anything trailblazing in In Farleigh Field, it is such a joy to read that it doesn't matter. Danger. Spies. Traitors. Romance. Everything combines for an absorbing read that is finished much too quickly. Readers can pit their skills at playing Catch the Spy and form their own close attachments to one or more of the characters. My favorites? The youngest daughter, Phoebe, and her partner-in-crime Alfie, a young Cockney boy evacuated to Farleigh Place due to the Blitz.

Are there any fellow fans of Susan Elia MacNeal's Maggie Hope series reading this? I think you'll love In Farleigh Field (and so will most of the rest of you)!

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Got this book from my local library when it was selling it's retired books. Think I paid $.50 for it. Many of the one- and two-star criticisms (on Amazon) note the formulaic plot, simplistic writing, shallow characters, etc. I read this book in less than a week. I usually read when I go out for coffee ( so maybe an hour at a time). After slogging through my fourth Tana French book (Dublin Murder Squad series, which I was reading in order), I was ready for a fast, easy read. "In Farleigh Field" fit the bill. Is it great literature? No. But, I don't think it pretends to be, either.

The plot is rather formulaic--a girl and two guys. One guy is poor but honorable, and the other is a handsome cad from a high class family. Of course, the gal goes for the cad who becomes a pilot in the RAF, is shot down and imprisoned, and miraculously escapes. POSSIBLE SPOILER: I thought his explanation of how he escaped and made it all the way across France was a bit suspicious and later in the story we learn the "escape" wasn't exactly the way it was reported. Also, it turns out that in this small circle of main characters, FOUR of them (unbeknownst to each other) are engaged in espionage (for one side or the other) and a secondary character is as well. That seems to be a little too convenient. END OF SPOILERS

I also thought some things were not fully explained. Near the end, Alfie and Phoebe are kidnapped, abandoned in the back of a van (somewhere, although I don't remember if the location was ever stated) and then are miraculously rescued (again, it's not fully explained how people knew where to find them).

Other (Amazon) reviewers have mentioned that they thought it was more appropriate for a YA audience and I can understand that sentiment.

If 1/2 stars were permitted, I would give this book 3.5 stars. Not great, but also not horrible.

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