Alice Eclair Spy Extraordinaire: A Spoonful Of Spying by Sarah Todd Taylor
Published by Nosy Crow
IN Sarah Todd Taylor’s previous (and first) novel in this series, readers were introduced to a character so bright and lovable as to allow for hundreds of unique stories.
In A Recipe For Trouble, young Alice Eclair was recruited as a spy and had to learn the ropes – balancing this new passion for mysteries with a love for baking and working in her mother’s patisserie in Paris.
Now in the sequel, Alice’s daring double life has her investigating two mysteries that may or may not be intertwined and making new friends and enemies along the way.
The fast pace of the novel is established on the very first page, where we open in the centre of a complicated mission.
Being young girl, Alice harnesses the power of being underestimated by men, and adults in general, to work without being noticed, a trait that is both one of her greatest strengths and greatest frustrations.
With her new partner Claude, an older spy who’s kind at heart but almost impossible to impress, her mission is to acquire information being shared by two enemy passengers on a luxurious boat by posing as a waitress.
Being thrown into this first mission sets the tone for the rest of the story, with every moment, action and even casual dialogue utterly gripping – and every clue chasing on to the next.
With the usual mix of chaos and skill, Alice learns of enemy plans to recreate a new plane that France is relying on to be one of the fastest ever seen and her whole organisation is working on it.
In order to stop the plans for the new plane from falling into the wrong hands, Alice must once again combine her brilliant baking skills with spying to achieve the perfect results as she and her mother are invited to showcase their desserts at an innovation and culture fair.
Having grown up fascinated by this fair, Alice must curb her excitement at this event, as those with not-so-sweet intentions may be around every corner.
Over the course of her investigation, spies have started to go missing, and when Alice is assigned to this case, she can’t help but look for clues about the plane and starts to wonder just how separate they are.
As she becomes involved in the fashion and air travel sectors of the fair, befriending glamorous models and secretive engineers, it begins to seem to Alice that everyone is hiding a secret.
The story, like any good mystery, is told in such a way that you can attempt to solve it along the way, connecting the dots as she does and being surprised yet satisfied at each reveal and question answered.
Once again, following the adventures of Alice Eclair, young Parisian spy, as she spins sugar and stories to access the enticing secrets of the unique characters around her was a pleasure.
While there aren’t any direct spoilers and only a few references, I would recommend reading A Recipe For Trouble first to catch up on the overall story and the more detailed origins of this talented baker and determined spy.
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