The Secretary by Deborah Lawrenson-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 28, 2025

Moscow, 1958. At the height of the Cold War, secretary Lois Vale is on a deep-cover MI6 mission to identify a diplomatic traitor. She can trust only one Johann, a German journalist also working covertly for the British secret service. As the trail leads to Vienna and the Black Sea, Lois and Johann begin an affair but as love grows, so does the danger to Lois.

A tense Cold War spy story told from the perspective of a bright, young, working-class woman recruited to MI6 at a time when men were in charge of making history and women were expendable.

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REVIEW: THE SECRETARY by Deborah Lawrenson is an historical, Cold War espionage thriller focusing on British MI6 undercover agent, secretary PA Lois Vale.

Told from omniscient third person perspective (Lois) THE SECRETARY follows MI6 agent Lois Vale, a secretary with a keen sense of observation, as she is assigned the position of personal assistant to British Minister Roger Waller, at Britain House in Moscow, in the Soviet Union. The year is 1958, the Cold War leads to a nuclear arms race, and around every corner Lois is being followed; her room ransacked; and listening devices placed in every room as she endeavors to uncover a possible traitor. Getting re-acquainted with German journalist and MI6 ‘occasional’ Johann Dreschler finds Lois reconsidering her future until a trip to Vienna ends with Johann missing, the KGB taking aim at our story line heroine, and the awareness that she could no longer trust the people with whom she lived and worked.

THE SECRETARY is a story of cold war secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, espionage, intimidation and treason, shadows and covert missions based loosely in fact, wrapped in an abundance of historical fiction -the political machinations are limited; the undercurrent of mistrust is abundant. The premise is intriguing, dramatic and edgy; the characters are determined and charismatic.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy