A Colder War by Charles Cumming

A classic old-school espionage novel, with some intriguing plot twists.  Tom Kell, an out of favor British agent is sent to investigate the suspicious death of another British agent in Turkey.  Kell is tasked with searching out a potential mole in the British or American services in Turkey - and the plot begins its twists and turns.  Cumming is great at bringing us into the world of spies, where nothing can be accepted on its face.  382 pages

Birds of a Feather: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, by Jacqueline Winspear

Somehow I began this series with the second book, but one of the best features of the series is each book's ability to stand on its own.  Maisie is an intelligent, clever woman working as a private investigator and psychologist in and around London, during the period between the world wars. Her background makes her uniquely suited for the work; she began life under the stairs as a serving girl in a great house in London.  However, starved for knowledge, she would sneak up into the grand library and spend her nights reading, which came to the attention of her employer, suffragette Lady Rowan Compton. She became Maisie's patron, taking the remarkably bright youngster under her wing. Lady Rowan's friend, Maurice Blanche, often retained as an investigator by the European elite, recognized Maisie’s intuitive gifts and helped her earn admission to the prestigious Girton College in Cambridge, where Maisie planned to complete her education. But when the first World War broke out, she lied about her age and went to the front as a nurse.  The station where she worked was destroyed by artillery fire leaving her injured and the doctor she had fallen in love with, a shell of a man.  The writer is vague about his injuries, but he remains in hospital the rest of his life, unable to speak.  Maisie returned to her studies and an apprenticeship with Maurice Blanche, which explains how she came to her career as an investigator with profiling skills.
In Birds of a Feather, it is spring of 1930, and Maisie has been hired to find a runaway heiress. But what seems a simple case at the outset soon becomes increasingly complicated when three of the heiress’s old friends are found dead. Is there a connection between the woman’s mysterious disappearance and the murders? Who would want to kill three seemingly respectable young women? As Maisie investigates, she discovers that the answers lie in the unforgettable agony of the Great War.
320 pages

The Secrets of Mary Bowser: A Novel by Lois Leveen

This novel is based on the remarkable true story of Mary Bowser, a young woman who was enslaved in antebellum Richmond, Virginia by the wealthy Van Lew family.  Bet Van Lew, the headstrong daughter of the family had strong abolitionist sentiments, which led her to emancipate Mary and her mother but the law forbade emancipated slaves to live within the state.  Mary traveled to Philadelphia to be educated, and her mother, wishing to remain with her still enslaved "husband" pretended to still be in bondage.  During the period of her life in Philadelphia, her mother passed away, which led Mary to feel a higher calling than that of the bourgeois free blacks she saw around her in Philadelphia.  With the aid of friends who worked with the Underground Railroad, Mary returned to Richmond to pose as an enslaved house girl in order to spy in the home of none other than Confederate States president, Jefferson Davis.  A memorable story of a brave woman history had forgotten.   496 pages

"A Fine Passion" by Stephanie Laurens

Baron Jack Warnefleet has finally ended his career as a spy for England and wants nothing more than to return to his country estate in Avening and a quiet life.  In the years that he's been gone, Lady Clarice Altwood has moved to Avening to live with her bachelor cousin after having been exiled by her father and the ton from London.  Jack and Clarice meet while tending to an injured stranger who sends them back to London to confront her family, the ton, and the Bishop of London in order to save her cousin.

I enjoyed this very well written book.  Clarice and Jack are both strong and capable people who are immediately attracted to each other but are wary of marriage and commitment.  The intrigue with her cousin put the focus of the novel on Clarice's family and her place in it but didn't detract from the romance.  This is part of Laurens' Bastion Club Series, and I'm tempted to read more.  437 pages.

"A Secret in Her Kiss" by Anna Randol

This debut novel takes place in Constantinople in 1815.  (The city is now known as Istanbul, Turkey.)  Mari Sinclair is a British spy living there with her archeologist father, who is addicted to opium, when Major Bennett Prestwood is ordered to become her protector after an attempt on her life.  Mari bristles against the unwanted, duty-obsessed man, but he has his orders and will not disobey them no matter how much he is drawn to her.  This was a unique and intriguing story with many cultural details thrown into the action.  The author put a new spin on the English historical romance genre, and I'm looking forward to her next book.  374 pages.

"The Betrayal of the Blood Lily" by Lauren Willig

Although this is the sixth book in the "Pink Carnation" British spy series, it's the first one that I've read.  More of a historical mystery than a historical romance, it is set in early 19th century India where Britain has insinuated itself into Indian socity, culture, and politics.  I was pleasantly surprised at the author's creative expressions and unusual phrasing, but the cast of characters and Indian terms made it a little difficult to follow.  The hero of the novel was much more likable than the heroine, and the contemporary secondary story woven in with it sometimes got in the way, but overall, it was an intriguing and refreshing concept.  401 pages.