Secrets of Malta by Cecily BlenchSynopsis: “Malta, 1943. The war in the air above Malta is over, but the battle for Europe is about to begin. Margarita, a young singer in a Valletta nightclub, has seen her former lover Henry Dunn only once since breaking off their affair. His wife Vera, an enigmatic archaeologist, arrives at the club to tell her that Henry has disappeared, presumed dead. While investigating, Margarita stumbles upon the hunt for a notorious and dangerous spy: Nero. As an unlikely bond develops between the two women, and strange secrets emerge, an urgent quest to unmask Nero starts – before he can enact a deadly plan that may threaten the course of the war. “

My Review

This was a really good historical fiction audiobook which left me with a bit of a book hangover, something that I was expecting at all.

The synopsis states that it’s set on the island of Malta in 1943, but it’s actually a dual timeline story also set in 1926 as well. The 1926 timeline features a much younger Vera, starting out as a archaeologist who travels to the Middle East in search of ancient treasures, with a predominately male group from England.

The two timelines alternate until Margarita and Vera’s stories come together in Malta in 1943. I enjoyed both timelines, but I think that the 1926 story had a bit more edge to it.

I loved the Middle Eastern setting and found the archaeology quite exciting too. That’s not to say that the 1943 story was boring, far from it, as there were some extremely tense and dark moments, especially during the hunt for Nero, the Nazi spy.

There were some excellent twists throughout, and when a reveal came later on in the book I was pleasantly surprised. It was one of those books that kept me guessing right up until the very end of the book.

Helen Keeley’s narration was good, but I did find that some of her female voices grated on me at times. Fortunately her portrayal of the main characters was excellent.

Recommended if you enjoy historical fiction set in WW2.

Book 18 of 20 Books of Summer 2024