Learn a Little Spycraft with Historical Fiction

In 1942, war rages overseas, and siblings Will and Maggie do their best to contribute to the war effort stateside. Maggie works at the Navy Yard while Will secretly scouts for the Manhattan Project. But when the discover a woman hiding under their back stairs, they are captivated by the mysterious past of this stranger with an affinity for poisons and a talent for killing small creatures. With whispers of spies and the world’s first atomic bomb in the work, questions about what this women wants–and her sudden appearance in their lives–begin to sink in. Is she someone the siblings can trust or a threat to everything they’re working for?

Katharina Edgeworth has a seemingly perfect life with a job at the UN, a pediatric surgeon of a husband, two healthy sons, and heir to a fortune. But the post-war American dream has become her own living nightmare. When the FBI approach her to become an informant, tasked with joining the inner-circle of a high-ranking Soviet spy who was once her friend. As a courier, Katharina is tasked with carrying stolen government documents from D.C. to Manhattan. But even as she navigates the demands of the FBI and secrecy of the KGB, people around her are losing their covers and their lives. And Katharina could be next.

During the heart of the Cold War, an FBI intelligence officer suspects her stalling career has something to do with her age, gender, and race as a young Black woman working in an old boy’s club. But then she’s offered an opportunity to join a shadowy task force aiming to undermine the revolutionary president of Burkina Faso. The United States is suspicious of his communist leanings, and even though Marie respects what he’s doing, she knows this may be her only chance for advancement in the FBI. But over the next few years, as she observes, seduces, and ultimately takes part in the coup that will overthrow President Thomas Sankara, she begins to question what it means to be a good spy, a good American, and, more importantly, a good person.

When a British spy plane crashes in Vichy, France, two girls–one a pilot, one a spy–know their chances of survival are slim. But one of them just might be able to escape. After being captured, “Verity” confesses to her Nazi captors to avoid a grisly execution. But as she tells the story of the pilot Maddie, her best friend who she left in the wreckage of the fuselage, the intricate story of these two girls’ friendship is brought to life. And it’s not quite the story you think it is. After all, it’s a spy weaving it.

Beatriz and her family lost everything in the Cuban Revolution. Now, having fled to America, she’s ready to seek her revenge against Fidel Castro, who had her twin brother murdered. And she knows it’s only with the help of the CIA that she can do it. But as the Cold War swells and Beatriz is consumed by her quest for revenge, she realizes allies and enemies can become an ever-changing target, and she’ll have to make a choice between avenging her past or looking forward to her future when she finally gets her chance at looking Fidel right in the eyes.