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Historical espionage at its very best. Set in 1938 in London and Vienna, a tense and atmospheric thriller told against a backdrop of uncertainty and fear as World War Two threatens.
As war looms over Britain and there is talk of gas masks and blackout, people are understandably jumpy and anxious. Stella Fry, who’s been working in Vienna for a Jewish family, returns home with no job and a broken heart. She answers an advertisement from a famous mystery writer, Hubert Newman, who needs a manuscript typed. She takes on the job and is shocked the next day to learn of the writer’s sudden, unexplained death. She is even more surprised when, twenty-four hours later, she receives Newman’s manuscript and reads the Dedication:
To Stella, spotter of mistakes.
Harry Fox, formerly of Special Branch and brilliant at surveillance, has been suspended for some undisclosed misdemeanor. He has his own reasons for being interested in Hubert Newman. He approaches Stella Fry to share his belief that the writer’s death was no accident.
What’s more, since she was the last person to see Newman, she could be in danger herself.
As war looms over Britain and there is talk of gas masks and blackout, people are understandably jumpy and anxious. Stella Fry, who’s been working in Vienna for a Jewish family, returns home with no job and a broken heart. She answers an advertisement from a famous mystery writer, Hubert Newman, who needs a manuscript typed. She takes on the job and is shocked the next day to learn of the writer’s sudden, unexplained death. She is even more surprised when, twenty-four hours later, she receives Newman’s manuscript and reads the Dedication:
To Stella, spotter of mistakes.
Harry Fox, formerly of Special Branch and brilliant at surveillance, has been suspended for some undisclosed misdemeanor. He has his own reasons for being interested in Hubert Newman. He approaches Stella Fry to share his belief that the writer’s death was no accident.
What’s more, since she was the last person to see Newman, she could be in danger herself.
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Reviews
Set in those dark days leading up the Second World War. Leads the reader from a mysterious crime in London to espionage drama in Vienna. Fox and Fry are great characters
Absorbing and brilliantly detailed, with an unerring feel for period and for building tension. Showcases Jane's knack of landing on an aspect of pre-war tensions and upheavals to create a terrific novel
As both a first-rate thriller, and a loving, witty riff on the Golden Age of detective fiction, Midnight in Vienna is outstanding, written with zest and incisive wit
A total tour de force . . . an acute evocation of a world and atmosphere. The story is brilliant, the characters funny and engaging, the plot perfectly paced and with such a clever, beady twist
A tour de force of meticulous plotting, suspense, historical atmosphere and terrific characterisation. I loved Fox and Fry and hope this is the start of a whole new series
A masterclass in atmosphere and tension . . . letting each scene come to vivid life. Never have I lived so fully inside 1938
A thrilling blend of fact and fiction. The stakes couldn't be higher. A terrific read