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An Unlikely Agent
London, 1905. Margaret Trant lives with her ailing, irascible mother in a dreary boarding house in St John’s Wood. The pair have fallen on hard times, with only Margaret’s meagre salary from a ramshackle import-export company keeping them afloat.
When a stranger on the tram hands her a newspaper open at the recruitment page, Margaret spots an advertisement that promises to ‘open new horizons beyond your wildest dreams!’. After a gruelling interview, she finds herself in a new position as a secretary in a dingy backstreet shop.
But all is not as it seems; she is in fact working for a highly secret branch of the intelligence service, Bureau 8, whose mission is to track down and neutralise a ruthless band of anarchists known as the Scorpions.
Margaret’s voracious reading of detective fiction has scarcely prepared her for the reality of true criminality. Her journey of self-discovery forms the heart of this remarkable novel, as she discovers in herself resourcefulness, courage, independence and the first stirrings of love.
Menczer conveys the fog and grime of Edwardian London in an espionage thriller that evokes the humdrum dinginess of spywork as it alternates with thrilling danger, in a manner characteristic of John le Carré. Margaret Trant is a heroine to remember.
When a stranger on the tram hands her a newspaper open at the recruitment page, Margaret spots an advertisement that promises to ‘open new horizons beyond your wildest dreams!’. After a gruelling interview, she finds herself in a new position as a secretary in a dingy backstreet shop.
But all is not as it seems; she is in fact working for a highly secret branch of the intelligence service, Bureau 8, whose mission is to track down and neutralise a ruthless band of anarchists known as the Scorpions.
Margaret’s voracious reading of detective fiction has scarcely prepared her for the reality of true criminality. Her journey of self-discovery forms the heart of this remarkable novel, as she discovers in herself resourcefulness, courage, independence and the first stirrings of love.
Menczer conveys the fog and grime of Edwardian London in an espionage thriller that evokes the humdrum dinginess of spywork as it alternates with thrilling danger, in a manner characteristic of John le Carré. Margaret Trant is a heroine to remember.
400 pages, Paperback
First published May 11, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 12, 2017
After reading a glowing review on Nudge Books I brought myself a copy of this - the striking cover helped seal the deal too! And it has been a really enjoyable experience reading this. It wasn't a book that I raced through, but I think the way the story is told and the way it evolves you get a better experience if you take your time over it!
We are introduced to the rather fabulous character of Margaret Trant. She lives with her rather overbearing mother and they are struggling to get by in London in 1905. But she is seemingly handed a way out, when a newspaper is handed to her at the recruitment page and a certain advert takes her eye. This leads her to working at Bureau 8 and appearances are very deceptive there!
I loved the way the character blossomed as she set about working at Bureau 8 and gets involved in the intelligence service. I found her to be very like 'Agent Peggy Carter' from The Marvel Series, in the set up as she overcomes the stigma of just being a woman, to be very much relied on in the investigations especially when they delve so close to home. There's lots of mystery, subterfuge and secrets and it often proved difficult to know who to trust or where the story would lead to next.
Really hope there'll be more from this author and character as I feel it has many options in progressing and creating an enjoyable series!
We are introduced to the rather fabulous character of Margaret Trant. She lives with her rather overbearing mother and they are struggling to get by in London in 1905. But she is seemingly handed a way out, when a newspaper is handed to her at the recruitment page and a certain advert takes her eye. This leads her to working at Bureau 8 and appearances are very deceptive there!
I loved the way the character blossomed as she set about working at Bureau 8 and gets involved in the intelligence service. I found her to be very like 'Agent Peggy Carter' from The Marvel Series, in the set up as she overcomes the stigma of just being a woman, to be very much relied on in the investigations especially when they delve so close to home. There's lots of mystery, subterfuge and secrets and it often proved difficult to know who to trust or where the story would lead to next.
Really hope there'll be more from this author and character as I feel it has many options in progressing and creating an enjoyable series!
March 17, 2017
This was a novel that conjured up the atmosphere of Edwardian London beautifully.
Margaret Trant lives with her mother in a boarding house in St. John's Wood and works as a secretary.
Margaret looses her employment when the business she works for relocates.
A chance meeting with a stranger, who hands her a newspaper sees Margaret joining the mysterious
Bureau 8. This is an intelligence agency whose main purpose is to hunt down a band of anarchists called The Scorpions.
This was my first foray into historical fiction and this book was populated with a vast cast of characters. I found myself enjoying the story and the escapades of the characters immensely.
The quality of the writing was really good, the atmosphere of Edwardian London was so tangible you felt you were breathing it and imagine yourself in gas lit streets with horse drawn trams etc.
I also felt the ending of the book left room for a sequel. If so I would be interested in reading it.
Thanks to lovereading for the ARC. I feel anyone picking up this book will enjoy it
Margaret Trant lives with her mother in a boarding house in St. John's Wood and works as a secretary.
Margaret looses her employment when the business she works for relocates.
A chance meeting with a stranger, who hands her a newspaper sees Margaret joining the mysterious
Bureau 8. This is an intelligence agency whose main purpose is to hunt down a band of anarchists called The Scorpions.
This was my first foray into historical fiction and this book was populated with a vast cast of characters. I found myself enjoying the story and the escapades of the characters immensely.
The quality of the writing was really good, the atmosphere of Edwardian London was so tangible you felt you were breathing it and imagine yourself in gas lit streets with horse drawn trams etc.
I also felt the ending of the book left room for a sequel. If so I would be interested in reading it.
Thanks to lovereading for the ARC. I feel anyone picking up this book will enjoy it
February 12, 2020
This was a bit of a behemoth of a novel but worth sticking with.
Our heroine, Margaret, is trapped in shabby genteel poverty boarding house hell with her pernickerty demanding selfish widowed mother. When Margaret is let go by her employer, the bumptious Mr Plimson - who appears to only have offered her a job as he knew her father from a business partnership - things are financially impossible. Margaret is struggling to find a job until she is handed a newpaper advert for an interesting if vague opportunity.
Margaret is interviewed and turns up on her first day at a hearing trumpet shop to find its a front for an element of the Secret Service - Bureau 8. The Bureau is investigating and trying to track down and break up the terrorist group, the Scorpions, who went deep underground about 15 years before but have resurfaced with a bomb at a railway station and other similar outrages.
Margaret, initially employed as a secretary, is welcomed by this odd collection of colleagues, all men, who are vague and terribly, terribly focused, but also kind and not entirely without finer feeling.
With time short before a threatened outrage and major remassing of the Scorpions, its all hands to the pump - and this involves Margaret going undercover as the newest agent for the Bureau.
With her mother in a permenant snit, sulking and bursting into angry tears without warning or due cause, Margaret has quite enough on her plate at their boarding house - not to mention the gloomy miserable landlady, lacklustre food and concern over their future, when a new boarder, a Mr Smith, starts getting mysterious postcards in code and seemingly following Margaret about. Fired with enthusiasm, Margaret 'borrows' a postcard and unwittingly starts off on the path to solve the mystery of her father's unexplained suicide...
I do hope this is a series, because I very much enjoyed this book and genuinely took to Margaret and the odd agents of Bureau 8!
Our heroine, Margaret, is trapped in shabby genteel poverty boarding house hell with her pernickerty demanding selfish widowed mother. When Margaret is let go by her employer, the bumptious Mr Plimson - who appears to only have offered her a job as he knew her father from a business partnership - things are financially impossible. Margaret is struggling to find a job until she is handed a newpaper advert for an interesting if vague opportunity.
Margaret is interviewed and turns up on her first day at a hearing trumpet shop to find its a front for an element of the Secret Service - Bureau 8. The Bureau is investigating and trying to track down and break up the terrorist group, the Scorpions, who went deep underground about 15 years before but have resurfaced with a bomb at a railway station and other similar outrages.
Margaret, initially employed as a secretary, is welcomed by this odd collection of colleagues, all men, who are vague and terribly, terribly focused, but also kind and not entirely without finer feeling.
With time short before a threatened outrage and major remassing of the Scorpions, its all hands to the pump - and this involves Margaret going undercover as the newest agent for the Bureau.
With her mother in a permenant snit, sulking and bursting into angry tears without warning or due cause, Margaret has quite enough on her plate at their boarding house - not to mention the gloomy miserable landlady, lacklustre food and concern over their future, when a new boarder, a Mr Smith, starts getting mysterious postcards in code and seemingly following Margaret about. Fired with enthusiasm, Margaret 'borrows' a postcard and unwittingly starts off on the path to solve the mystery of her father's unexplained suicide...
I do hope this is a series, because I very much enjoyed this book and genuinely took to Margaret and the odd agents of Bureau 8!
August 7, 2017
The character voices were good and this book was moderately enjoyable, but overall I found the plot slow and didn't think the main character developed as much as she should have. The narrative arc I hoped for for this character never quite eventuated - her lapses in judgement and delicate sensibilities persisted right through the climax of the story, in a way that didn't fulfill my expectations of a contemporary period piece. Perhaps she will grow into herself more in future novels, but I hoped that there would be less of her being tricked by/having things explained to her by men, and more of her subverting expectations.
May 13, 2017
Review copy courtesy of www.nudge.com - my thoughts on that site in due course.
December 29, 2024
3.75 stars, rounded up
Enough intrigue to keep you on your toes.
Enough intrigue to keep you on your toes.
April 5, 2022
I really, really wanted to enjoy this book, but I struggled. It was very detailed, but didn’t always add to the story. There was a lot of flustered breathing and blushing. I usually immerse myself in the period but….It may have been me…
March 28, 2017
Beautifully written An Unlikely Agent is the best kind of mystery, told by the adorably wry Miss Trant. Her ghastly mother is just one of an hilarious cast of misfits and eccentrics, amongst them the delectable McIntyre - daring, dashing, smart. Other reviewers have said they were hooked. I was. Curled-up-in-bed-of-an-afternoon-hooked. A completely absorbing story, with a compelling plot, that you won’t want to end. Gratefully though Menczer has left us with a tale that needs to go on, Miss Trant back at her monster Remington typewriter, Bureau 8’s reputation at stake.
April 22, 2017
Such a completely different book to what I've read before, but such a good surprise. I was able to read this book pre published through good reading, and it was such a treat to read.
Set in early Edwardian London, a mystery novel which presents a female character strongly at place in a mans world.
I would definitely recommend this book, and i am looking forward to more from this author.
Set in early Edwardian London, a mystery novel which presents a female character strongly at place in a mans world.
I would definitely recommend this book, and i am looking forward to more from this author.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews