Book review - How I Became A Spy

Title: How I Became A Spy
Author: Deborah Hopkinson
Genre: historical fiction
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Rating:

less than I wanted it to be

Summary (provided by publisher): Bertie Bradshaw never set out to become a spy. He never imagined traipsing around war-torn London, solving ciphers, practicing surveillance, and searching for a traitor to the Allied forces. He certainly never expected that a strong-willed American girl named Eleanor would play Watson to his Holmes (or Holmes to his Watson, depending on who you ask).
But when a young woman goes missing, leaving behind a coded notebook, Bertie is determined to solve the mystery. With the help of Eleanor and his friend David, a Jewish refugee--and, of course, his trusty pup, Little Roo--Bertie must decipher the notebook in time to stop a double agent from spilling the biggest secret of all to the Nazis.

My opinion: At face value, the plot for this book is interesting. Espionage is, by it's very nature, intriguing. And Hopkinson is playing with some interesting ideas. I like d the inclusion of instruction in codes and ciphers. We do get some subtle social lessons: guilt, gender bias, racism. These are fairly simple explorations. I found the actual writing stiff and unrelatable. And the plot is built on a shaky premise that is not sufficiently explained. It doesn't live up to promise.

More information: How I Became a Spy releases February 12.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley..