Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own


Easy to read spy novel. Not bad but not great either. It’s a nice way to spend a few hours. But I’m not loving it so much that I’ll read the next one.

If you like a spunky female lead who knows how to stand for herself, WWII and spy novels, look no further. Livy Nash is a former British intelligence operative who had worked behind the enemy lines and assisted the French resistance. At the very end of the war, she and her colleague and lover Peter Scobee were betrayed by the man they knew as Luc. Livy and Peter were captured and only Livy was able to escape in the end. Now, with the war over, Livy struggles to adjust in the post-war London. She drinks herself to sleep most nights and is barely able to make ends meet. But then out of the blue, a man named Ian Fleming approaches her in a bar with an offer to jump back in the game and have a shot of avenging Peter's death. This is a fast-paced mystery set in London and Paris, and is sure to be enjoyed by all historical mystery lovers.

I was really interested in this book because:
1) historical fiction! 2) it's post-WW2, which is very rare to find 3) female spies!!!!

Basically, I am trash for historical fiction in general, but also female spies!!! I was super intrigued by a female character who went to war and came back, having to take on a menial job as a proofreader for a ladies' column. It's so rare to find books focused on women who actively participated in the wars, so I was immensely pleased. Livy was also my type of disillusioned character, who struggles to reconcile her exciting past with her dreary reality, drinking herself into oblivion. The appearance of Ian Fleming early in the story promises great intrigue, and Livy's own wartime spying is slowly revealed through flashbacks.

That said, I did struggle to connect with Livy and the overall conflict. The writing was a bit too detached for my liking. Livy's wartime past was kept vague enough for me to feel disinterested. Shame.

M. L. Huie weaves an interesting post-WWII spy world plot in Spitfire, the first of a series of Livy Nash novels. We all love a flawed protagonist, and Livy Nash certainly satisfies that need. She is broke, under employed, often drunk, and recovering from the trauma of capture and imprisonment by the Gestapo. Add witnessing the execution of her commander/lover, and Livy is a mess. Ian Fleming appears in a London bar frequented by Livy, offers her an opportunity to participate in a covert mission to retrieve a list of former Nazi agents, and the fun begins.
Our hero is certainly a Spitfire, as her code name from her commando days implies. Yet, she is often unsuccessful in her missions. We meet several supporting characters as the adventures unfold, but none in depth. A good protagonist, well developed, would have strengthened the story. I was looking for one nasty guy to get to know well and follow throughout the book.
I appreciate the post WWII and pre-Cold War setting as few novels address this period and issues. There were some noticeable references made that were from another decade such as lap belts which, I believe, weren’t used until the 1950s, “reach out” and “human trafficking” which are twenty first century phrases. Some careful editing and beta reading should catch those inconsistencies.
Did we meet a potential new love interest (no spoiler here)? And what is ahead for Livy? Great segue for the next book of the series which I will read.
Net Galley provided this advanced reader copy in exchange for this review.

Well, this premise was sure to grab my attention. Livy Nash was a courier in France during WWII. Her commanding officer/friend/lover was betrayed and executed by the Nazis in 1944. Now, it’s 1946 and she’s got a drinking problem, a demeaning job as a proofreader for a third rate newspaper and no money. As she’s told, “since the war, you've been doing work that seems, frankly, beneath you and has caused you to become something of a bitter wastrel with a taste for bad vodka.” So, when a journalist tracks her down at a bar to offer her a reporting job, she’s not sure what the catch is. Turns out, the journalist is Ian Fleming.
I enjoyed that this book took place AFTER the war. I feel like I’ve read way too many WWII books recently. But the time after is a great unknown to me. Huie does a good job giving us a sense of time and place; of England still dealing with the effects of rations and bombed out streets; of Paris after the war slowly returning to normal. She covers the lack of trust between the intelligence agencies of England and America even though they’re both going up against the Russians. And no one trusts the French.
The book moves at a steady pace. It has the feel of a cozy spy novel. (Thriller would be a misnomer... ) This does remind me of the Maggie Hope series. So, if you like that series, you’ll probably enjoy this. Both were a little too tame for my taste. Livy just never seemed fleshed out; very much two dimensional, in my opinion.
Ian Fleming was what drew me in, but he’s a minor presence.
My thanks to netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advance copy of this book.

This is a Livy Nash Mystery; my first time being introduced to Livy and she is quite the character. I didn’t know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised and since this is considered a historical fiction, I don’t believe it was based upon true events.
Livy’s character was easy to like, she has a lot of baggage but she was trying to get rid of it. Ian Fleming’s roll should have been more developed, I think. The story clips along at a good rate and I found the writing enjoyable. I had a little bit of confusion trying to keep track of the Germans, the Russians and the Americans who were all involved in wanting a piece of the prize. Overall it was a good book.
I was given the opportunity to receive this book from Crooked Lane Books through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. This one gets 4****’s.

This is the first in the Livy Nash mystery series set in the aftermath of WWII. The author introduces Livy Nash, a flawed war heroine who, after the war, was abandoned by her government. Livy spent a goodly portion of the war behind enemy lines working with the French resistance fighters until she and another member of her group were captured and tortured by the Gestapo after being betrayed. She survived the war only to fall into bottle after bottle of alcohol as she mourned the loss of the leader of her resistance cell and her lover. She is pulled out of the bottle by none other than Ian Fleming who wants her to return to France to find the man who betrayed Livy to the Gestapo.

This is very well-written mystery set in the 1940s. Livy is an intelligent, angry, and damaged woman. The author pulls no punches about Livy’s problems. Huie’s writing is excellent. The reader is hooked from the first sentence to the last. Livy may remind some readers of the more predominant male characters featured in the spy novels of bygone years.

If you’re looking for a new series to read that isn’t your run-of-the-mill historical mystery, then this the book for you because not only is it well-written but has a main character who is interesting and strangely likable. It deserves to be at, or near, the top of your to-be-read list.

My thanks to Crooked Lane and NetGalley for an eARC.

Spitfire by M.L. Huie is the first in a series and the debut work for the author. I enjoy a good spy story and this one had all of the right elements. Good action. And interesting, and very flawed, main character, and even the literary father of James Bond.

The story started a bit slow, but once it got moving, it held my attention. The big twist was somewhat telegraphed early on in the story, so I had an idea of what was coming but the resolution of the twist was very unexpected.

The only place that the book fell short for me is more stylistic than anything else. The actions and dialog seem very modern for a story set in 1946. Phrases like "human trafficking" and "I'll bet he's pissed" were anachronistic. The only other thing is that bothered me was, while I understand that Livy has her vices, as a reader I felt I was beaten over the head with love/hate relationship Polish vodka.

All in all, I did like the book and will look for the next Livy Nash.

Thanks to M.L Huie, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

SPITFIRE, by M.L. Huie, is fast paced mystery/thriller that evokes the exhilarating danger and peril that spies during and right after World War II went through. Livy Nash was once a top spy during the war and now she spends her days half drunk as a proofreader in a job she hates. When she is thrown back into the spy scene, with a mission of utmost importance, Livy embraces the opportunity. Livy quickly realizes that the mission relates more to her than she thought and she must embrace her past to figure out her future.
Huie reminds the reader why the world fell in love with British spy novels, but at the same time SPITFIRE has uniquely pleasing vibe. Using a heroine turns the table on how sexuality mixes with espionage and giving Livy an outward attitude of relaxed assertiveness makes Livy so fun to follow along with. Huie also does an excellent job of creating the post-war Europe feel of the book. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that no character in the book is to be believed on surface and everyone knows more than they say. As Livy makes discoveries and finds out true motives, the tension builds and by the end of the book, the answers seem right in front of the reader and yet still there are some great ending twists that slap the reader in the face.
Exhilirating from beginning to end, SPITFIRE is a entertaining spy novel I won't soon forget and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

This was an amazing debut for a series I definitely will be following! The character of Livy is perfectly flawed! She’s not your perfect character and that’s what I loved about her! She definitely is a Spitfire! From her alcoholism to her determination she’s fascinating. You can see her pain and hurt throughout and the way she is determined to finish her job. I was definitely surprised by some of the twist in this book and I was even more shocked on how Livy handled it. This book was a thrilling page turner that has me hungry to devour more!

Spitfire
(A Livy Nash Mystery #1)
by
M.L. Huie

4 Stars

Spitfire is the first in what promises to be a new mystery series from author M.L. Huie. “Spunky” is the word that I’d use to describe Livy Nash, the book’s heroine. World War II is over and Livy is working as a proof reader at a second rate London paper when she’s recruited by Ian Fleming (yes, that Ian Fleming) to join a covert operation to secure the names of the members of a European-wide ring of former Nazi agents. The British want the list of names very badly, as do their allies the Americans and their former allies (who are rapidly becoming the new enemy) the Russians. Livy had been a British agent working in Paris with the French resistance during the war, and Fleming thinks she perfect for the job of tracking down the list before the Russians can get their hands on it. The story is well-written, the characters flawed enough to be real, and the whole thing thoroughly enjoyable.

An engrossing and entertaining historical thriller that kept me hooked till the last page.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Courtesy of NetGalley, I received an ARC of
M. L. Huie's debut historical mystery, Spitfire. Set in post WWII London and Paris, Huie introduced a gutsy new heroine, Livy Nash, who held my interest as she interacted with various characters and followed the clues to reveal the identities of espionage agents. The locales seemed well - researched and realistic, adding to the ambience of the era. I am looking forward to reading another installment in the Livy Nash series and recommend this novel!

While 1946 brought the beginning of recovery from WWII, adjustment to post-war life was a difficult transition. Having served behind enemy lines in France as an agent code named Spitfire, Livy Nash now survives by spending her evenings with bottles of vodka. Her days are spent as a proofreader on a ladies’ advice column for a minor newspaper. Her capture by the Gestapo, the betrayal by a traitor in her group and witnessing the execution of her lover have left deep scars.

A second chance comes to Livy when she is approached by Ian Fleming. The Germans lost the war, but their spy network is still active. Fleming needs Livy to retrieve a partial list of the agents involved that has been offered as a good faith gesture by a member of the network. This becomes a race against the Russians to control the network. Fleming wants Livy to find the leader and bring him back to London, which presents a problem. The leader is a magician called Mephisto, the same traitor who betrayed Livy’s group.

Livy’s return to France brings her back to life. She now finds herself in a new war, but the enemies now work in the shadows and no one is to be trusted. Tom Vance, an American reporter, first introduced himself to Livy shortly after she left Fleming’s office in London. Now he repeatedly appears as Livy tracks Mephisto in Paris, assuring her that they are on the same side. In the war the Russians and Americans were Britain’s allies, but now everyone is hunting Mephisto for their own reasons.

M.L. Huie’s story looks at a time after WWII that led to the Cold War. As a survivor, Livy becomes a strong character who will resonate with fans of Jacqueline Winspear and Susan Elia MacNeal. This is tagged as the first book in the Livy Nash series and I look forward to reading her future adventures. I would like to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing this book in exchange for my review.

Spitfire which is the first book in the Livy Nash series was an enjoyable mix of historical fiction and suspense. The story follows Olivia/Livy Nash who was a spy during WWII for the British Government against the Nazis in Paris. While the author does a good job in covering her backstory, some of the characters were not given a lot of depth. While I was able to figure out the big reveal towards the end of the story, I was invested and wanted to see how it ended. I will look for the rest of the series in the future to see where her story goes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the advanced copy.

I read an article a couple of months ago about the role of women spies during World War II, and I was intrigued. This book came up on my radar not long after that, so it seemed like a sign that I should give it a try.

Livy Nash is flawed and her life is a mess...she is very relatable. I'm looking forward to reading more of her adventures. She runs into a wide variety of characters - snooty socialites, washed-up actressed, magicians, spies, traitors and more. A few situations get bungled because of circumstances and/or bad decisions. I kept wondering if she was going to be able to turn things around. This was a light, exciting read!

Thank you to Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books for the advanced copy.

I could not embrace the actions of the characters in this book, nor did I find much of it logical or believable. It is the first book of a series and I did get this copy from Net Galley as advanced reading copy. I did make a dedicated effort to understand the author's intent and vision, but I will not be looking for the second book in the series. The female protagonist is chosen to be a returning spy to Paris. Her initial work during the war started with commando training and the mission was a bit foggy to the reader as it was presented in mini-memory snippets and not cohesive. Her mother was French, and even though she was a Lancashire girl and her accent identified her as such her French was passable.
What skills was she bringing to the table after the war to be asked to return to Paris and retrieve a list.? When she is recruited anew it seems unlikely that intelligence would wish to trust a woman living on vodka. But they do. Soon she is mixing it up with Americans, Russians, Parisians and the Brits and the Paris she arrives in does not seem to be suffering much after the devastation of war. People are going in and out of restaurants, bars, cars tooling around everywhere. Nope. Can't buy it. I also do not respond well to stories told with abundance of emotion.

Net Galley advanced reader copy

Even before you reach the end of the book, it's apparent that this is only the first installment in what is intended to be a series of Livy Nash mysteries... and I for one can't wait for the second.

We first meet Livy as a borderline alcoholic Lancashire lass working a dispiriting proof-reading job at a down-market women's magazine in immediately post-war London... shades of AJ Pearce's "Dear Mrs Bird." Slowly, however, Livy's wartime service, working for Britain's espionage network, comes into view, with the flashbacks only accelerating as she is invited to meet the mysterious Mr Fleming, an editor at a considerably more prestigious publication. And from there... no, no more spoilers.

Suffice, however, to say, if you like your spy novels flavored with excellent period detail, hardbitten agents, international intrigue, and lashings of revenge, "Spitfire"... Livy' nickname, bestowed in tribute to the fighter plane of the same name... will more than measure up. Well-realized characters occupy well-wrought situations; the action and intrigue are all but non-stop, the London and Parisian settings are delightful, and there's probably half a dozen twists that you probably won't have spotted coming from a mile off.

In fact, if one has to pinpoint one flaw in the entire book, you'll find it in chapter seven, where Livy discovers a "black canister about the width of a fifty pence." It's an interesting observation, bearing in mind that the country's first decimal coinage, the 50p included, did not make a bow until 1968. But it's also the kind of error that could as easily have been inserted by a well-meaning copy-editor as the author, so we'll skip blithely over it and hope for that little bit more care next time.

Because otherwise, "Spitfire" is a veritable hurricane of excitement.

What a thrilling start to a new series! Livy is a courageous character that I will like to know more about. I love the intrigue and action of this series.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A rather intense spy story. The story was much more interesting in the last half of the book. It keeps you guessing as to who’s good or bad. It was an interesting enough book that I would probably read the next one. Thanks to Netgalley for the early copy