Thomas F. (hardtack) - , reviewed on 9/7/2015 + 2719 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

An interesting mystery. However, there were three major historical errors I had problems with.

First, by the time period in which this mystery takes place, the British had most, if not all, German spies under their control. Soon, they would have them all. Yet the author has them still operating for Germany in the story. The story also has the Germans knowing, through a spy, that the British were working on their codes and knew of the Enigma machine. The British knowledge of the Enigma machine was one of the best kept secrets of the war and the Germans never knew it was broken, as they believed it was unbreakable. Fortunately, brilliant Polish mathematicians had reversed-engineered the Enigma before the war began. And the Poles shared this knowledge with the French and British.

Second, the heroine at one point goes back to her house and makes a quick overseas call to her aunt in the United States. Not possible. Even after the war, overseas' calls, for most people, required making an 'appointment' for the callers to be connected. During the war, unless you had official permission, you had to apply to make a call overseas, and it was usually denied.

And third, one of the men close to the prime minister was an almost openly gay man. Not only was this "sexual persuasion" illegal at the time, but it was also deemed a great security risk. Not that there were not gay men working at the highest levels, but none of them were as openly gay as this character.

Despite this, the World War II background caught my attention and I have the second in the series on my WL.

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