A Jewel in the Crown

James Bond meets Maisie Dobbs in this riveting new historical caper series featuring a gifted young socialist-turned-counterespionage spy on a World War II mission orchestrated by Winston Churchill himself... 1940: Weeks after the evacuation of Dunkirk, Germany is poised to invade a near-defenseless Britain. To safeguard the Crown Jewels from the Nazis, Winston Churchill devises a daring gamble to have them shipped overseas. The priceless artifacts will be secretly removed from the Tower of London and driven north to Scotland by two operatives posing as a young married couple, to be taken from there to Canada. Caitrin Colline--a Welsh coalminer's daughter and an ardent socialist--will play the wife of Lord Marlton, Hector Neville-Percy. A less likely couple is at first difficult to imagine. Yet Caitrin's bold, streetwise confidence and sharp wits complement Hector's social ease and connections, essential to a second part of their mission: uncovering Nazi sympathizers within the highest ranks of Britain's aristocracy. Battling enemies within and without, Caitrin wonders if anyone in their circle can be trusted--even her partner. And when unexpected events catapult her into a life-or-death chase across the continent, the morale of a nation and the fate of Europe itself in the balance.