January Mystery/Suspense Book Club

On January 20, 2015, the Mystery Book Group at One More Page Books discussed Alan Furst’s The Spies of Warsaw. Some in the group had been to Warsaw and found Furst’s setting and atmospherics authentic. The year Furst’s story opens is 1937, before the Nazis invade Poland, before the first shots are fired at Gdansk, before this world is destroyed and many lives lost.

In 1937 Warsaw was crawling with spies from all sides. What haunts this book is the knowledge that before the war ends 85% of the beautiful city of Warsaw will be destroyed. The sense of what is ahead comes to haunt the main character, Mericer, a military attaché with the French embassy in Warsaw. Mercier is spying on the Germans and by subterfuge sees firsthand the Nazi buildup of military might.

In Warsaw his predecessor managed to convince Herr Uhl, a German engineer, to turn over tank drawings to him. Uhl has become ensnared by “the Countess” and needs money which the French are happy to supply. Unfortunately the Nazis discover Uhl, whom Mercier must rescue.

Mercier is handsome, dashing, and brave, crossing the border under an assumed name and a forged passport to watch tank maneuvers and report back to Paris about the impending war. Unfortunately General Petain and his adjuncts believe the next war will be fought the way the last was, so they ignore Mercier’s reports about tanks that can travel through forests.

Mercier falls for Anna, an international lawyer, and their romance also spans the book, giving it much needed cohesion. My only criticism is that plot feels episodic in that Mercier goes from one event to the other.

I do enjoy Furst’s setting, place and time, when Europe was holding its breath hoping war would not come again. Later books like Mission to Paris or The World at Night deal with the Nazi occupation of Paris, another intriguing time.