The Book Whisperer Reviews a Post WWII Spy Novel

I received an advance e-book of Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook by Celia Rees. My review reflects my opinions only. Edith Graham has taught in a girls’ school throughout the war. After the war, Edith has an opportunity to go to Germany to help set up schools in the aftermath of the war. Being fluent in German gives Edith an edge in doing her job.

The job of helping set up schools is legitimate enough, but Edith also has a dangerous undercover job of helping locate Nazi criminals who are hiding to avoid prosecution. As with any spy or undercover operation, knowing whom to trust becomes an important issue.

Before the war, too, Edith had had a romantic relationship with Kurt von Stavenow, a physician, who turned out to be a horrible Nazi criminal who conducted unspeakable experiments on other human beings, including children. Their relationship had ended badly when Edith learned Kurt was engaged to Elisabeth, a beautiful German woman from a wealthy family. The three even met again before the war at a country home, much to Edith’s surprise and dismay.

Now, under the guise of setting up the schools, Edith is supposed to use her past to help her locate Kurt and other criminals.

Edith is no stranger to covert operations. She has been writing food reviews and cookbooks as Stella Snelling. This name and occupation will also figure heavily in the story and return to readers in a surprising way.

Before she leaves for post-war Germany, Edith meets for what she thinks is an innocent going away dinner with two friends Dori and Vera. They inform Edith that they want her to spy for them and send news back about the criminals she can locate. The three decide to use The Radiation Cookery Book and letters about recipes and ingredients as the cover for their messages. They know the letters will be censored, but the censors will be men who will not suspect any secret messages to be passed along through recipes.

The three decide “what could be more natural or more innocent” than women exchanging recipes and cooking tips. Then Dori says, “But I can’t cook.” Edith reassures Dori that it won’t matter because the fact that Dori cannot cook becomes the perfect reason for Edith to be coaching her and sending her not only recipes but also tips about the cooking of the dishes.

Although Edith sees the opportunity to work in Germany after the war and help with the locating of Nazi criminals, she does not fully grasp the dangers she faces. Again, knowing whom to trust becomes one of the most complex issues.

To go along with the cover of the cooking and recipes, Edith does ask for recipes from a wide variety of people she meets. Too, each chapter begins with a menu of a meal, often with substitutions since many ingredients are not readily available after the war.

One of the things I liked most about the story includes the menus at the beginning of each chapter. For example, as Edith takes the train in chapter 6, we have the following menu:

Blue Train Picnic: Broodje kroket, rookwurst (smoked sausage), mustard, hard-boiled eggs, and Genever. This explanation follows the menu:

“Broodje korket: not unlike a rissole, flecked with parsley. Made with leftover meat, minced or chopped, mixed with onion but bound with a bechamel then formed into a fat sausage, crumbed and deep-fried. Eaten in a bridge roll with mild Dutch mustard.”

How the women use the recipes to send their secret messages is not exactly clear. Occasionally, Edith will murmur to herself that by using certain words from the recipes in the letter that Dori or Vera will understand the code.

The story is gripping and readers recognize that even though the war is over and the Allies have won, much danger still exists. Edith manages to find Kurt von Stavenow and his wife Elisabeth. I was not prepared for the shock that comes near the end of the story. Readers will have to read the whole story themselves. Also, the very end of the story involves revenge and readers will be glad to learn of that revenge, a dish best served cold.

Celia Rees has written books for children and teens; Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook is her first adult novel. It will be published in July 2020. Learn more about Rees at her Web site: www.celiarees.com.