The East German Spy Mistress
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley October 15, 2022
Author Natalia Pastukhova with Peter Morris.
Distributor:
ISBN: 978-1839525087
Publisher: Brown Dog Books
Release Date: September 2022
Website: https://www.browndogbooks.uk/
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The East German Spy Mistress has been set in the Cold War era, post-World War II. Ulrica zu Lauenburg is facing some hard truths about the life she has lead as a ‘spy mistress’, realising it is only a matter of time before she is caught by the British, who are well aware there are double agents everywhere; many left over from the War years and others newly crafted.
She sets up her cousin Walther Coberg as a ‘spy’; a man with a chequered past, serious perverted lusts and very little conscience when it comes to murder, or anything else. He is aware of what is being asked but accepts the challenge, with the knowledge he will be caught and if all goes to plan, either expatriated to Britain or America, depending on who gets him first.
Basically he is to be a red herring to hide Ulrica’s real purpose, that of selling off stolen artworks and ancient coins to pave her way to a better, safer life far from her operational bases of Tangiers and East Germany.
The plot, which is somewhat madcap, also involves a group of British officers who are fed up with the so called ‘spy’ networks that are constantly disrupting their signals and feeding intelligence to the enemy, in this case Russia.
They set up what seems to be an elaborate ruse to flush out these faceless people which has some surprising results; far more than ever expected. This upsets some member of the newly formed MI6 but the officers involved in the ‘ruse’ disregard the warnings as they believe they are better able to flush out the ‘faceless people’ far better than the British bureaucracy.
Ranging from Tangiers, East Germany, Libya and Beirut, to Otterburn Moor and peopled with characters whom are in many ways very descriptive of the people of the era Pastukhova draws a fine picture of many still deeply scarred by the War years, others trying to hide in the exotic Tangiers, Libya and the corrupt world of Beirut, with others using their skills honed in conflict to try and create a better, safer world, nuclear style.
Is Ulrica a heroine, possibly, but an unlikely one, is Walther a psychopath, or is he a relic of a man scared by war and his past. Has Pastukhova captured the spirit of the British ‘old boys network’ when facing challenges, definitely, as she has within the somewhat erratic storyline, managed to capture that certain essence of the years in-between, when the world was in transition between the old and the new.
The East German Spy Mistress makes a light, if somewhat confusing read perfect for a lazy afternoon relaxing.