The good
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Although this is in theory a spy story, it’s more of a murder mystery / investigation than anything else. That said, it’s an intriguing mystery, with some reasonably interesting twists and turns.
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The parts that do focus on spying—a little bit during World War II, a little bit during the Cold War—give us tiny glimpses into spy craft, paranoia, espionage, counterespionage, etc… But mostly, you’re left wanting more
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At times, the story feels fast-paced and exciting.
The not so good
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The mystery story is fairly convoluted and the writing jumps around a lot, skipping important bits of context, so I found the book hard to follow at times. Perhaps you’re supposed to? I’m not sure. With some mystery stories, when you feel confused, that’s part of the story: typically, the detective is confused too, and you both get more and more clarity as the story goes on. But with this story, I found myself confused at totally random points, and about things that didn’t need to be confusing.
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There are a lot of names in the book, and they’ll sometimes switch between first name, last name, and nicknames, and as I’m not good at remembering names, that only added to the confusion. I kept thinking, “wait, who is this guy?” and then having to flip back through the book to try to figure it out.
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The dialog is a bit uneven. At times, it’s quick, funny, and witty, but at times, it feels unnatural, stifled, and again, a bit hard to follow.
