The Undercover Bookshop
by Katherine Reay
DESCRIPTION
During the winter of 1950 in the small Cotswold village of Great Rollright, amateur sleuth Gemma Brown starts to suspect that the town’s best baker, Ursula Beurton, is a Soviet spy, tumbling her headlong into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse that ends with a decision that will lead her to the Undercover Bookshop and change her life forever.
Recently moved to the English Cotswolds, Gemma Brown desperately wants to create the kind of idyllic life she’s read about in her favorite mystery novels, with herself as the leading lady. But fitting in proves difficult as Gemma is more adept at solving mysteries and setting up the village’s first bookstore than she is at baking cakes or grasping social niceties. Nevertheless, she finds a friend in Peggy, a young woman recently moved to town herself, and Ursula Beurton, who is not only the village’s best baker but an enigmatic figure who sparks controversy in the small-town gossip network.
As Gemma spends more time with Ursula, she begins to suspect all those novels are affecting her thinking. The oddities she starts to notice must be her imagination because, if not, they point to something far more dangerous than winning the local baking contest or being placed on the church committee. Could her neighbor be a real spy?
Following her instincts and a few skills learned through fiction, Gemma soon becomes embroiled in an international intrigue involving the village’s mysterious benefactor, Lady Marchmont, MI5, and the KGB. In an unexpected twist, however, Ursula asks Gemma for a favor which may endanger all their lives as their next chapter unfolds in Gemma’s new venture, the Undercover Bookshop.
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MY THOUGHTS
The Undercover Bookshop is an intriguing historical cozy mystery. Set in postwar England, the fact that this also has elements of espionage goes a long way when it comes to make this novel one impossible to put down. As Gemma Brown looking forward to starting over, establishes her own bookshop, also while starting a book club, with the books they choose focusing on mysteries. As this is Gemma’s favorite genre, she couldn’t be happier. Along with this Gemma warms up to new friendships as well as she develops growing feelings for a local police constable.
Here is where the story gets really interesting. Gemma is barely getting settled when she begins to notice things about Ursula Beurton, a talented local baker who givers her reason for pause. Ursula is a talented local baker and Gemma asks her for lessons in baking, and the two immediately develop a strong bond. This presents a real conflict with Gemma, who becomes increasingly convinced that Ursula is a spy. While the war might be over, the lines aren’t always clearly drawn and enemies just might be closer than one thinks.
The story itself is very good - especially as it is based on the real-life experiences of Usula Kuczynski Beurton. I didn’t fully appreciate this until reading the Author’s Note and Acknowledgements at the end of the book. I loved this because the author created a strong sense of urgency almost from the very first page. The clues were there, but I don’t mind feeling like I was groping around in the dark as the story unfolded. A ploy to keep me reading feverishly? Perhaps, but kudos to the author.
I loved the Agatha Christie references woven throughout the story, as she is my favorite author. These references measured Gemma as the story progressed and this definitely endeared her to me. So many of the WWII historical fiction books I have read take place during the war itself. It was refreshing to read a story set in the postwar years.
Many thanks to Harper Muse and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
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