This book was just made for me. Written to utter perfection on a topic that I just can't stop reading on. Definitely pick it up all you crime/thriller fans. Definitely pick it up.

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Hedda by Peter Haden is the second in a trilogy, this one focusing on a Polish-German woman recruited to work for British Intelligence during World War II. Colonel Peter Haden was a professional soldier for several decades and a successful businessman.

Hedda has managed to survive the Nazi occupation and a stint with the Polish Partisans. She managed to get to England and was recruited to the intelligence services due to her excellent knowledge of languages.

Soon, Hedda volunteers for a dangerous mission, to go back into the lion’s den and work as a high-level secretary for the German embassy in occupied Paris. During her dangerous assignment, Hedda must use her wits to stay undercover while attempting to send top-secret information back to England.

This is a good, standalone book with an interesting female protagonist. I previously enjoyed Jan, but if I didn’t know this was the second in a trilogy, I probably wouldn’t have guessed.

The story is intricate and interesting. There is a large cast of characters with somewhat strange names (“Manners”?) which, at times, I found difficult to keep straight. It seemed that the author wanted to incorporate many historical elements in the book and jammed them in instead of seamlessly integrating them.

From my reading about Bletchley Park, I know that it wasn’t easy to get to work there, or play hookie. The ladies working there were always stressed and under threat of certain death if they even whisper a word of what they do. I find it hard to believe that Hedda just “got a job there”. The other historical misstep which bothered me is how the French Resistance introduced themselves with their real names, which from my understanding they would never do, especially to a stranger they just met. I think there could have been a better way to introduce characters, or better yet, have fewer.

Nevertheless, Hedda by Peter Haden is still an enjoyable historical fiction read. The story is intelligent, the main characters are intriguing, and the narrative is grounded in the history and attitudes of the time. Col. Haden has deep knowledge of how bureaucracy works, and how to get around it which, for me, certainly added a level of credibility to the novel.

Hedda is a novel about British intelligence during World War Two. The novel details the risks operatives faced on a daily basis. It's a fascinating story about the heroes behind enemy lines. I enjoyed the book.

A highly readable novel with a strong cast of characters, whose varied adventures grasp the reader;'s attention and hold his or her interest throughout. Although we don't get a great deal of insight into the psychological development or emotions of principal characters in the course of the novel, for the general reader they are sufficiently well drawn to engage the sympathy of the reader who will care what happens to them. We hold our breaths collectively, wondering whether our heroes and heroines will succeed in their activities as British spies and members of the Resistance, or evade capture and torture by the Nazis, and how they will negotiate the ups and downs of their romantic attachments. The 'twist' at the end, with the rather too-fortuitous partner exchange where the two Polish and the two German protagonists ended up married seemed a little contrived, but many readers will, I suspect, forgive it and give the author the benefit of the doubt. Recommended for general readers, especially those interested in stories of WW2 and the Resistance.

This book works very well as a stand-alone story, but there is one glaring inaccuracy in the plot. I learned from a nonfiction book I read on the women of Bletchley Park that it was VERY hard to get into work at Bletchley, and once there, almost impossible to be allowed to transfer out until the end of the war. Lady Jean Gordon managed it in 1945 but someone who wasn’t the daughter of a Duke and recommended by Lord Mountbatten?

I found myself quite smitten by this book, it has a blending of genteel Britishness mixed with John Wick! I had not read Jan so i don’t know if that should be a prerequisite but as a historical/action thriller this is a damned fine book, excellent read