Above Suspicion by Helen MacInnes

With Above Suspicion I discovered a terrific read by Helen MacInnes, who has written many espionage novels in the same family as Graham Greene and Eric Ambler. Her job as a German literature translator during the 1930's and her marriage to classics scholar Gilbert Highet (who also served as an MI6 British intelligence agent) gave her opportunity to travel Europe and provided insights into the wartime climate. Her third novel Assignment in Brittany was required reading for Allied intelligence agents working with the French resistance against the Nazis.

Above Suspicion has an irresistible premise, beginning with a young married couple, both Oxford scholars, being asked by a friend to vacation in Germany this year. He is with the Foreign Office, and one of their higher informants has gone silent. All they need to do is follow some as-yet-unknown clues and report back. After establishing their innocent-tourist reputation by going to all their usual haunts, they should visit the Cafe de la Paix on a Saturday night. Francis will wear a red rose, and Richard will order Cointreau with coffee. Sit at an outside table and at eleven o'clock, upset the Cointreau. As the waiter mops it up, a man will approach your table. Francis shoud begin talking about a Mrs. Rose and name a place. The man will signal a number. Go to that place one hour later than the number he gives you - He has a message for you.

A story of danger and intrigue that begins with such unknowns is a true adventure! Francis and Richard do go to Paris and continue on from there, passing blindly from one informant to another on only the barest of clues - sometimes even their coded words and subtle gestures don't completely convince the informants they are trustworthy, and a mistake could be deadly. In Nurnberg they witness the serious looking men and women walking quickly, the uniforms, the salutes and two-word greeting. Followed closely at all times by unseen spies, they move on to Innsbruck and Pertisau to begin a 'hiking holiday'. They hook up with an American and a Brit on their side and discover that along with finding out the fate of the top man in the chain, the Nazis have prepared a deadly trap.

I found it a fascinating read, written at the time - 1941. The Germans are either portrayed as innocents too afraid to ask about things such as the rumoured concentration camps and the disappearance of neighbours, or believers in the movement who are eager to point out the great changes their leader has brought about. Richard and Francis have a polite way of intelligently countering those arguments. Although this is adventure and there are some tense moments, it's equally about the human element during this unsettling time.

They made a movie of Above Suspicion in 1943 with Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray, Basil Rathbone and Conrad Veidt. In Hollywood fashion, they kept the essence but made major changes to lighten the tone. Some of the good characters were now bad, some bad were now good! The school in the valley turned into a castle on a hill. A tense and quite serious spy thriller became a lark for two newlyweds.

This was an excellent thriller, full of mystery and danger. I look forward to reading more of her novels and if you like old school intrigue - where each clue is down an unknown blind alley, give this a try. Her novels have been reprinted many times and are widely available.

My other Helen MacInnes reviews:

The Salzburg Connection

Prelude To Terror

Horizon

1941 / Hardcover / 333 pages