A Jewel in the Crown

A Jewel in the Crown - Lewis
Audio performance by Simon Vance
4 stars

I was very tempted to tag this book as historical fantasy. There aren’t any magical components to the plot, but it is fantastic in the manner of a comic book hero story. Except that the hero is definitely female. Lewis combines a smattering of historical WW2 fact with the completely imaginary escapades of two undercover British agents.

Caitrin Colline is a London constable when she is recruited to a clandestine, and strictly female secret service. She is the very working class daughter of a Welsh coal miner. She is a feminist and a socialist. Following rigorous training in self defense, sabotage, and subterfuge, she earns her first assignment in the war with Germany. show more Naturally, she is asked to play the wife of a British aristocrat (also a spy) in a daft attempt to hide the British Crown jewels safely away from German invaders.

Caitrin is a fun character. I enjoyed watching her get the best of the men ( including Winston Churchill) who underestimated her. Clearly, Caitrin will return in a sequel. The war will be lost without her. I look forward to a future book and another Simon Vance performance. show less

Full disclosure, I received this book for free.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book!

In all honesty, a couple of chapters in, my initial impressions of it were:
1. Why would you write a book about what is seemingly the least interesting part of World War II (protecting the crown jewels)?
2. Choosing to place the author's name at the start of every other page instead of any other information always reminds me of the wise words of Viktor: "Actually, yes, but only because you signed your notes. Every page, I might add. Eh, a little egotistical, don't you think?"
3. There were a lot of editing mistakes and some disjointed dialogue. In the beginning, it did read a bit like the author had his trusty thesaurus at hand the whole show more time, and the history dumping felt a bit oppressive and out of place at times. Sometimes the characters seemed to be lecturing each other on history just to educate the reader. ***Though this was an ARC, so some of these issues will hopefully be removed***
4. I want more character development! We barely get to know Caitrin before she is recruited to 512, and that whole period of time was very rushed, leaving me with a lot of questions. Also, when Caitrin meets Hecky for the first time, he is seemingly overwhelmed and baffled by her and has a hard time adjusting to her strong personality, but immediately after it seems like he has fallen for her with no build-up. In my opinion, when you know how to write a good, entertaining story (which this author clearly does) don't be afraid to make it longer and let things steep a little!

However, I swiftly and completely fell in love with Caitrin and the other characters more than I have in a very long time (who knew I could love reading so much about Churchill?). Caitrin is witty, intelligent, skilled, and brave, but not above making mistakes. David Lewis is clearly skilled with wordplay and witty jokes, as I found myself laughing through a large portion of the book. I thought that the big betrayal was perfectly timed, surprising me by being about halfway through the book as opposed to toward the end like a lot of other stories. This allowed for enough time to really feel the pain and frustration that Caitrin experienced afterward and to see her pull herself out of it to save the day anyway.

I did feel like it was odd how quickly Caitrin accepted that Hecky had not actually betrayed her.
I found myself wondering how she could not worry that either he was lying and still aligned with the Nazis or so easily influenced that he was changing his mind repeatedly. Perhaps if there had been more development of their relationship prior, then relief could explain her willingness to believe him, but the way the story was written, I couldn't see someone so highly trained and already once-betrayed acting the way she did at that point.

This book is 100% worth the read even if you aren't very fond of historical fiction, if nothing else than to meet Caitrin and enjoy immersing yourself in the entertaining writing and get a few good laughs. show less

Suspenseful!

Riveting WWII tale of spies, misdirection, the Crown Jewels, a secret women’s organisation, and English lords who want Churchill to make peace with Hitler. Not happening!
A derring-do thriller that rather appealed.

A Kensington Books ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

Follow police constable Caitrin Colline and Lord Marlton (Hecky) as they try to get the crown jewels to safety away from the Nazi's. Fun historical mystery in the new Secret Churchill series. Looking forward to the next book.