The Numbered Account

Julia Probyn #3

by Ann Bridge

Julia Probyn, like most people, knew very little about anonymous numbered accounts in Swiss Banks. Until her cousin, Colin Munro, asked her to look into the matter of one containing a fortune, for his fiancee Aglaia Armitage, left to her by her Greek grandfather. Then Julia learned a great deal. But besides bonds and debentures, old Mr. Thalassides, proved to have left documents of vital interest to the British Secret Service, and to other Powers as well, in the vault with them. When these disappear, the hunt begins...Ann Bridge brings her characteristic wit, suspense and sense of adventure to the third book in the Julia Probyn series.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Mid twentieth-century novelist [real name, Mary Anne O'Malley] who began by exploiting the milieu of the British Foreign Office community in Peking, China, where she lived for two years with her diplomat husband. Her novels combine courtship plots with vividly-realised settings and demure social satire.

She went on to write novels which take as the background of their protagonists' emotional lives a serious investigation of modern historical developments (such as the leap by which Turkey progressed from a feudal-style government to become a modern republic in which women enjoyed equality of rights and equality of opportunity).

Ann Bridge also wrote thrillers centred on a female amateur detective, travel books, and family memoirs.

Reviews

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Julia's cousin Colin needs her help. His finacee's wealthy grandfather has just died, leaving her as his heir, but most of that inheritance is in a Swiss numbered account. Aglaia can't go collect it herself, since she is underage and also on her way to South America to stay with her mother. If he provides Julia with the proper paperwork, will she go? At the same time, her old friend, Mrs. Hathaway is actually in Switzerland, and requests Julia to bring out her maid, thus providing Julia with another pretext for her journey. And a very interesting journey it is! Julia is an engaging heroine, capable of laughing at herself; and the book is full of other interesting characters as well. The plot is intriguing, making the book something of a "cozy" suspense novel, if there is such a thing. Recommended.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in this Cold War era cozy thriller series has Julia in Switzerland helping to recover the fortune of a young heiress and oh, by the way, some secret plans that need to be kept from the communists. One of my favorite aspects of these books are the great descriptions the author gives of the settings. They are very vivid and create a wonderful atmosphere.

As the title suggests, a numbered Swiss bank account plays a major role in the story. There was an interesting discussion in the book (published in 1960) about the fact that the Swiss banks kept millions of dollars belonging to Jews who died during WWII and made it virtually impossible for their heirs to access the accounts, a controversy that continues today.

I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third in a series of spy stories written by a British diplomat's wife is set in Switzerland. Her characterizations get better and better, and the main character, Julia, is more developed and quite human. The story of an misclaimed fortune is a little improbable, but the characters and their stories kept me up late until I finished. Unfortunately, there are a few lines with some prejudiced descriptions of characters' national origins that would be unacceptable today, although apparently not at the time this book was written in the fifties.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you don't think about the plot too much, you can enjoy this well written time capsule of a mystery. The main character, Julia, is well developed (I haven't read the earlier works, but found this to be a fine stand alone novel), and there is plenty of action and geographic description to make this a quick enjoyable read.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her books are light and are set in interesting foreign climes. Easy and fun!

[Vinnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely comfort read with some nice Swiss German lessons hidden in for the German speaker !

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tale of spies and counterspies on the trail of lost military secrets and a vast fortune.

Working from a list of books I read years ago.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

old fashioned mystery fun

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series is dated, but give an amusing picture of Cold War spying. Julia Probyn is a bit too good to be true.

[Chrissie]

*********************

*Enchanter's Nightshade 4 stars
*The Dark Moment 4 stars
*A Place To Stand: A Novel 4 stars
*The Tightening String 4 stars
*Illyrian Spring 3 stars
*Peking Picnic TBR

*Julia Probyn Series:
1. The Lighthearted Quest 4 stars
2.The Portuguese Escape TBR
3.The Numbered Account TBR
4,The Dangerous Islands TBR
5.Emergency In The Pyrenees TBR
6.The Episode at Toledo TBR
7.The Malady in Madeira TBR
8.Julia in Ireland TBR

[Louise Culmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This time Julia Probyn is in Switzerland, to help he cousin Colin, who has become engaged to a very rich young girl, whose money has been stolen from her Swiss bank account. Julia is in pursuit of the crooks, who have used a naive young girl, June, as a lookalike to pose as Colin’s fiancée. Julia wants to catch the crooks and help June escape from them. This is a fairly enjoyable story, it proceeds at a leisurely pace, with lots of local colour and descriptions of places etc. I found June more interesting than Julia, and would have liked to know what happened to her after the story ended. Julia also encounters a man who fascinates her, it is quite nice to see something able to ruffle her placidity for once.