Tom Savage continues his mastery of the spy thriller in “The Woman Who Knew Too Much.” It’s all here; the defection, elaborate deception, clever disguises, and the inevitable screw-up that endangers everyone. Savage takes well-worn themes and dresses them up. An unexpected twist at the end adds to the allure of this novel.

The CIA has drafted Nora Baron for the task of extracting a superstar of the Russian theater, Galina Rostova, from an appearance in Venice. She has information to share and CIA officials want to hear it. Unfortunately the actress is the mistress of a high-ranking Russian general with a suspicious mind and security people to feed it, so nothing will be easy. What starts out to be a well-planned operation with capable operatives to institute it turns out to be a massive bungle leaving a jumble of deep crap.

Savage to the rescue. The author creates the rat’s nest and the reader will be interested to see if he can clean it up to everyone’s satisfaction. You will have to read the book to find out. His writing is clever, his characterizations are immaculate, and the scenic backdrop will promote beautiful Italian music in your mind. Venice, with its archaic buildings, culinary delights, and winding waterways, is artfully depicted.

I recommend this book. It’s a clever novel that is both simplistic in its presentation and intriguing in its theme, making for an enjoyable read. Tom Savage knows his stuff.

Good story but a few too many coincidences which made the outcome discoverable a bit too soon.
Good sense of settings, It felt like Venice.
Too many interesting characters, not enough time to develop them all
Maybe some will return in next story.

The Woman Who Knew Too Much is the second book in Tom Savage's Nora Baron mystery series. This story takes place about 18 months after the page turning Mrs. John Doe. Late at night Nora hears tapping which she soon identifies as Morse Code. In following the sound, she arrives at her front door to find her husband's assistant, Ralph Johnson, and his boss, Hamilton Green, and they are there to offer Nora a special assignment should she choose to accept it.

The special assignment is to orchestrate an elaborate ruse to assist a famous Russian actress escape her State Theater Company and defect to the United States. She is promising earthshaking evidence of what her high placed paramour is planning to the U.S. It is up to Nora, in the guise of journalist Joan Simmons, and her cohorts Frances Camillo, a New York wardrobe expert and wife of a federal government official, Patrick "Patch" Sullivan, a film grad student at NYU and Nora's daughter Dana's current fellow to carry out the plan. When they arrive in Venice, the rest of their group comes together with Mario Naldi and his son-in-law, Paolo Ventura, both with a local private security agency and licensed to carry concealed weapons.

With the group together, the next step is to follow through with the plans set in motion by Hamilton Green's office. As Sound Byte Productions, they were conducting interviews with Galina Rostova as she and her theater company toured Europe in the Russian play, "The Seagull." While Nora followed through on her end, her husband Jeff Baron would be watching from the shadows to keep her safe.

As the story unfolds, Nora begins to unravel Galina's story, piecing together truth from fiction, and realizing that Galina's acting abilities extend to off-stage. The biggest challenge for Nora is to put the,pieces together before the extraction actually occurs.

Fast paced with well drawn characters and a beautiful Venice backdrop, The Woman Who Knew Too Much is a nice follow up to Mrs. John Doe. I do recommend this book.

I love these Nora Baron mysteries. An actress who's husband is a CIA agent uses her acting skills to help the CIA with a Russian defector. Nothing is as it seems and the twists keep coming until the very end. Highly recommended.

The palindrome primadonna Nora Baron gets roped in by her husband's employers to carry out a snatch in Venice. It's one of those books which is frustratingly lacking any degree of realism. Most of the characters on the goody side are amazing at what they do and the baddy side has visible flaws. Very boring.

This is the follow-up of Mrs. John Doe from the author Tom Savage. Nora, a regular housewife/acting coach, has been recruited by the CIA to help extricate a famous Russian actress from Italy to America. She is dating a very high ranking Russian general and has some secrets to spill. This is a fun romp around Italy as Nora tries to figure out a way to get the actress to America. Very much in the vein of a Mary Higgins Clark novel. Thanks, NetGalley for the ARC!

In 2015, one of the 122 books I read was "Mrs. John Doe," the first in a series featuring Nora Baron, wife of CIA operative Jeff Baron, actress and drama teacher at Stony Brook University on Long Island, N.Y. (where, for the record, our son earned his master's degree). I enjoyed that one, so when I got the chance to request an advance review copy of this second installment, I didn't hesitate for a second.

Nora's actions in that first adventure apparently impressed her husband's boss at the CIA so much that he picked her to lead the mission here. That seemed a bit of a stretch - I've heard how insular those CIA folks are, after all - until I learned that this job would require Nora to pose as a TV news host. All rightee then, I said - she may not have a lot of journalistic chops, but she certainly should be a shoe-in for portraying her assigned character.

The script goes something like this: A beautiful and talented Russian theater star, Galina Rostova, has contacted the CIA to seek asylum in the United States in exchange for information she claims is critical to U.S. security. Getting her to the States, though, won't be a walk in Central Park; Nora and her team must travel to Venice - where Galina is starring in a stage production of Chekhov's "The Seagull" - ostensibly to do a profile of the actress. At some point during the fake interviews, Galina is to be whisked away to a plane that will take her to freedom - far from the Russian general (and lover) she insists is a dangerous man who will stop at nothing to stop her from leaving him.

Not surprisingly, that old best-laid plans thing rears its head early on, most notably in the form of a snowstorm that effectively shuts down the entire city, its airport and waterways - and nearly drops the curtain on the escape plan. Meanwhile, Russian agents, who possibly suspect that a defection is in the works, begin to pop up stage right and left and anywhere else they're not wanted. Even though he's working primarily behind the scenes, Nora's husband Jeff gets involved as well, taking cues from his wife and doing what he can to keep Galina and everyone on the CIA team alive and the mission on pace.

All of that is complicated by a few twists that suggest some of the situations may not be as described and characters not as honest as they claim, so it's touch-and-go as to who will make it to the final bows. I'll never tell, though, so you'll just have to read it and find out for yourself.

,A fast, fun read full of spies, Russians and the city of Venice. It was well plotted and colorful enough to have the reader visualize the movie that could be made of it. Great fun reading. Thanks to Net Galley and Alibi for an ARC for an honest review.

I was glad to see Nora back in action. What an excellent read and what a story about deception and defection. Tom makes you want to like all the characters but somewhere in the story someone is lying and it is up to Nora to find out who. I loved the story line and I just loved Nora and her husband Jeff. I could not read fast enough and was surprised by the ending. Well done for keeping my glued to the pages of your book Tom Savage. I look forward to the next Nora Baron installment, where will you take us to next.

Thank you to Random House publishing via Netgalley for the copy.

I really liked the first Nora Baron book, however, I had a hard time getting into this one. It seemed a little hokey at first for me. After a while, I finally got into it and it was more like the Tom Savage that I'm used to. I still remember the first book that I read by him - A Penny for the Hangman - that was so good!

The ending of this book was air fist pumping good! I loved it. I love to see the bad guys get theirs. So instead of the 3 stars I was seeing at the beginning, I opted for the extra star that the ending definitely deserved. Like I said, slow at first, but it did come around and I found it entertaining, intriguing and mysterious.

Thanks to Random House/Alibi for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the first Nora Baron novel, as she is such an original character. This second one, for me, didn't quite live up to all the promise of the first.

To begin with, the story premise requires quite a leap in credulity. Nora, who has absolutely no training as a spy, is recruited by the CIA, not only to handle an international mission, but to run the mission on her own. I wanted to know why no one within the CIA, or no one the organization would normally contract, would be a better option. But, okay, I put aside my skepticism and went with the 'Nora as superhero' theme because I do like her character.

Next, the pace is exceedingly slow for the first two-thirds of the story. We spend a whole lot of time on touristy stuff. Clearly, the author is familiar with the region, but often I felt too much like I was reading a tour guide, rather than a thriller.

The final third of the book picks up dramatically. This is where the story comes together and all of the pieces start falling into place. The plot has some intricate dynamics, and this part feels like the thriller the book is meant to be. We have a couple of great twists woven in. Sadly, I wasn't surprised by them, mainly because the slow pace leading up to this point gave me a lot of room to figure things out on my own. Still, I enjoyed the execution of these aspects.

While this book can certainly be read as a stand-alone, I recommend starting with the first book, Mrs. John Doe, in order to get a better feel of Nora's character and her eventual affiliation with the CIA.

This book is actually 4.5 stars and doesn't receive a full 5 stars due to the beginning being a little slow to get into and I felt it was a little too easy to lose track of who each of the Russian men were in the story. Nora is on short assignment with the CIA to work a case with a Russian actress trying to defect to the United States. All is not what it seems though as plans get derailed and questions arise as to why the Russian actress needs to escape. The last half of the book was very fast paced and had some nice twists and turns that wrapped up the book in a satisfying way.

The Woman Who Knew Too Much is the follow up to Mrs John Doe, but definitely a stand alone novel. Interesting story and somewhat of a tour of Venice included. Tom Savage gives the reader excellent descriptions of the scenery, really putting the reader in the picture. I was given an early copy to review.

A good cozy but sometimes it moves too slow - too much like a travel log but I love the characters and the many twists - who are the good guys??

My first adventure with Tom Savage was through the beautiful island of St. Thomas in his novel, A Penny For The Hangman. Then, he drug me, willingly, all over England and France in a mad attemp to help my new friend, Nora Barron, try to find out what had happened to her husband, Jeff.

Nora, former well know actress and current drama instructor, is back. This time, instead of stumbling into a CIA operation accidentally, she is recruited by her husband’s boss, Hamilton Green…Ham to Nora but still Mr. Green to Jeff. The easy familiarity between Nora and Jeff’s boss was fun for me, possibly a little annoying to Jeff.

In this book author Tom Savage took me through the canals and back alleys of Vienna as Nora and her co-opted team of co-conspirators tries to help Galina Rostova find a safe way to escape her team of Russian overseerers. Galina has secrets important to the security of The United States. Those aren’t her only secrets. Nora and her team keep running into details that aren’t quite right. The big surprise for Nora was that her husband, Jeff, had joined the operation without her knowledge. She wasn’t upset or particularly surprised when Jeff showed up, he is protective and completely in love with Nora.

I have to say a few words about Jeff. He’s 53 years old and HOT! A picture of male perfection, and he’s all Nora’s! You have to love those gorgeous, alpha-males who are smitten by their wives. It makes them twice, thrice, a million times more…everything! Perfection.

I don’t believe I know a single person who wouldn’t love this book. I don’t believe I know a single person who wouldn’t love this author! This book stands alone nicely, but I would recommend reading Mrs. John Doe first. Mrs. John Doe is a great read, you’ll love it, too. Whether you choose to read this one alone or read them in order, get you copy now and…Enjoy!

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast paced spy adventure.

When Jeff's CIA boss asks Nora to help out for 5 days, the lure of Venice and the thrill of playing the part of a TV journalist while smuggling out a Russian actress is just what Nora needs while waiting to return to her teaching job at Stony Brook College.

Nora and her team unravel misinformation and race against Russian spies in the beautifully described city of Venice, Italy. A convent provides a safe haven along with some wonderfully colorful nuns.

How Nora can settle back to being an acting teacher after this adventure is yet to be seen.

Definitely a 5/5. I received a copy of this book from Alibi through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Nora Baron, her second foray into the clandestine world finds her traipsing around Venice, a once upon a time charming city, with alleys and hideaways and yet nowhere to hide. But a convent provides the shelter she needs to hide her, her troupe, and the asset trying to defect to the USA. The asset turns out to be a Russian actress, and what an act. But Nora, herself a pro at acting is on to the greedy little gold-digger’s act, and to the equally greedy sugar daddy who has been providing for her. The sugar daddy is a top General in the Russian military and has been providing for himself quite well. Corruption is a public sport apparently, the public gives and the few top dogs take. Nice work if you can get it. And as the plot goes, the actress, a suspect in the eyes of her provider and thus watched over by the General’s henchmen, practices her act of deceit, backstabbing a few people along the way, and being backstabbed by a few people along the way. But then again maybe Nora is not quite as good as portrayed, and with American agents waiting at the airport for the flight to freedom we reach the finale, and what a surprise.

I enjoyed the first in this series, featuring middle-aged wife, mother, and acting teacher Nora Baron, whose husband is an operative in the CIA, so when I saw that there was a second one coming out, I plumped for it right away.

And Savage didn't let me down. Once again, the book gets off to a slow start as Savage carefully fills in the details of Nora's life, the setting, the main characters, and then the set-up, which is supposed to be an easy-peasy defection to the West by a famous Russian actress. Nora, active in the stage world herself, plus now with a bit of training under her belt, is deemed to be the perfect person to fly to Venice, Italy, where the Russian theater company is currently staging a Chekhov play, to oversee the defection.

Naturally, things start coming apart, at first in small ways. For one thing, Nora doesn't seem to be the only one acting out a part. Then, people's stories don't quite match.

Finally, when Nora's group starts hearing footsteps in the dark, they begin to wonder if the plan has been compromised . . .

I really like reading about a middle-aged couple whose marriage is strong working together in this danger-fraught world with its layers of lies. The Venetian setting is vividly painted in, and the theater world is convincingly evoked, with an overlay of appreciation for the great playwrights. I also appreciated certain aspects of some of the international characters striking notes of current affairs in unexpected, sometimes unsettling echoes.

As the story unfolds, the tension begins to rise to a satisfactorily tense climax, introducing some delightfully unexpected characters alone the way. Altogether thoroughly enjoyable, and I hope we meet the Barons again.

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author!

A Russian actress who’s married to Russian general and privy to a lot of secrets wants to trade that intel to the United States in return for asylum. Galina Rostova is performing in Venice, Italy and does not want to return to Russia. The CIA wants the intel she’s promised, so they send Nora Baron to Italy in order to make the trade. But Nora is not an agent, she’s married to one, but her day job is as a teacher and a mother. The CIa has used Nora in the past and likes her ability to slip into any role (she teaches drama). Of course things go wrong during the exchange and the two women find themselves on the run across Venice, pursued by Russian thugs determined to make sure neither woman is able to spill any secrets ever again. The plot sounds highly improbable, but Savage makes it work, and with all the furor about Russia these days, it’s a timely and fun read