A review by melissa_who_reads
The Secret Vanguard by Michael Innes

4.0

This was not a murder mystery by any means: written at the beginning of World War II, it is most definitely a spy thriller, action-packed and definitely much more fast-paced than any of the Appleby novels before this one. It starts out slowly, but the slow description of the life of Ploss comes to an end fairly quickly and then the action starts. Appleby becomes a bit of an action hero in this one rather than a detective, and once again for much of the story he is not the point of view character. The story follows the adventures of Sheila Grant, and is mostly told from her perspective. There is an "uncertain" ending - which I particularly liked, given the wartime uncertainty of the book. It worked.