For a first-time author, this book is extraordinarily well-written. All of the plot points hold together and bring new dimensions to John Robie and Francie Stevens that are believable and built on the foundations that David Dodge laid in To Catch a Thief in 1952.

It helps to read (or have read) Dodge's book first (new edition coming out in April 2025!), but it is not strictly necessary. Just be aware that the characters are based on Dodge's book, not on Cary Grant and Grace Kelly!

John Robie, proficient acrobat, and reformed jewel thief, wants to rekindle his relationship with Francie Stevens. Known as Le Chat, he was extremely handy at separating jewels from their wealthy owners. He paid his debt to society in prison, and by serving in the French Resistance, where his fighting skills teamed up with his acrobatic prowess to create a lean mean fighting machine. Last active proving he was no longer a thief by catching  a copycat criminal, he was thrown off by Francie's rejection, and at least wanted a chance to talk things out with her. Hoping to enlist his friend Paul as an ally in getting her back, they meet in a hotel in Cannes, but the subject never comes up. Instead, Paul, the director of French Counter Espionage, pointed out a man he wanted watched. But as soon as he was spotted, the mystery man ran back into his hotel with John scrambling up a building to stop him. They met on his balcony, and as they fought, the man purposely fell to his death, leaving a large duffel bag filled with cash. This detail John kept to himself. But he saw a path to speaking  to Francie-she was going to be a fashion model at the  prestigious Riviera Fashion Week in Cannes, and John could attend under the pretense of spying for Paul...what could possibly go wrong?

If this sounds familiar, it should, O'Neil was given the nod by the Dodge estate to write the sequel to the novel-To Catch a Thief. Immortalized in the Hitchcock movie by the same name, the film featured Cary Grant as Robie and Grace Kelly as Francie. Because the original novel is so old (1952,) it is best to watch the movie before reading this novel to catch up on the plot. The book is very referential to the movie, it even gives a nod to certain places used as settings, and to Hitchcock himself. It is difficult to picture the characters as anyone else other than the movie stars,  even though the reader finds out that Francie and John are around the same age. In the movie he's about the age of her mother.

This is totally a plot-driven, action adventure novel and can be very absorbing and exciting. If you are in the mood for a fifties era convoluted plot filled with shady characters, slimy villains, and beautiful women, this just might be your next spy novel du jour.

Mark O'Neill's debut novel is a sequel to "To Catch a Thief," written by David Dodge and a classic movie starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. The action may be difficult to follow for those who haven't either read the book or watched the movie. The plot involves retired jewel thief John Robie helping in a search for spies while trying to regain the heart of Francie Stevens, who is pursuing a career in fashion with a starring turn as a model. The author keeps the action moving, although some scenes felt overlong to me (some of the fight scenes, long descriptions of clothes). 3-4 stars so rounding up. Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC.

I’ve never read a spy book like this before. This was full of twists and turns that I never saw coming. I will definitely keep an eye on this author.

To Catch A Spy is the debut thriller from Mark O'Neill and estate authorized sequel to David Dodge's To Catch a Thief. O'Neill has crafted a first-rate novel that will leave the reader craving more stories involving John Robie and Francie Stevens.

Mild spoilers ahead for To Catch A Thief.

The novel picks up a year after the end of To Catch A Thief. John and Francie have been seeing each other and corresponding regularly. Things seem to be going welk until Francie suddenly stops writing without any explanation. John is perplexed and is anxious to speak with her to sort things out. Thankfully, Francie is returning to Cannes for their first ever fashion week so John just needs to figure out how to wrangle an invitation. He decides to approach his friend Paul De Luc who has connections with the show's organizers. But first, John must assist Paul in a case he is working on: one that could have deadly consequences for himself as well as Francie.

The novel has many unexpected twists and turns. So many, in fact, it was easy to forget this was O'Neill's first novel. The plotting is so tight and the pacing so brisk that it read like something that had been written by a veteran novelist. He also leaves the door open to further adventures of John Robie. My hope is that To Catch A Spy is successful enough to encourage further sequels.

Thanks to @poisonedpenpress and @netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.
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This is definitely a caper. I liked the novel, however wasn't pulled in fully. I got bored at different points. I did like the premise.

I wanted to love this book. After all, the movie To Catch a Thief is a classic. However, I haven’t read David Dodge's novel of the same title. Writers I greatly respect gave To Catch a Spy high praise—Harlan Coben, for one. So, maybe I should have given that original book (Thief) a cursory read before I read To Catch a Spy. Maybe then my expectations would not have been so high. What I’m trying to say is, “It’s me, not you.”

All the ingredients are there—intrigue, mystery, romance, the French Riviera. Not to mention that a (mostly) retired jewel thief and a fashionable, cool socialite should make a popping pairing. What’s not to like? But, I was disappointed that it didn’t sweep me off my feet and didn’t compel me to keep reading. Another day, who knows? I might have loved it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, who provided me with an ARC. But I promised to be honest, so I’m giving this book 3.5 stars. Maybe the movie will be better.

This was a really good book with really great characters. I even enjoyed all of the side characters and this book was very well written. It had a ton of suspense, which I enjoyed. It kept me on the edge of my seat a lot and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

This was an incredibly fun book and I definitely did not expect to love the story as much as I did. But the cover is really eye catching and I think this was the perfect way to start my NetGalley journey. However, as much as I guarantee I would have loved this book even more I found out this is a sequel which means there were alot of thing i actually didn’t really truly understand which got me confused. So I’m going to read the first book so I can reread the second book and enjoy it that much more!

To catch a spy was an interesting sequel to to catch a thief with a different author. I wasn’t exactly sure where the story would go, but I thought it was very intriguing way to take it!
This book has it all suspense, mystery, and a spy! Be prepared the story will catch you!

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Very well written mystery. Couldn’t figure out the next move. It was very interesting and intriguing. Finished in one day while at work.

This is a great book full of fantastic characters. I really enjoyed the character development that John experienced over the course of the book. He was very well written and enjoyable as a character. The side characters were also really well done, and I appreciated what they added to the story. This is a very suspenseful read and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time waiting to see what was going to happen. I didn’t read the first book in this series, but I am definitely going to go back and do so because this one was so good. It’s a well written story and I’m excited to see where it goes next.

If you’re looking for a well-done mystery then I urge you to check this one out.

This was written to be the sequel to Daniel Dodge's To Catch a Thief. It was surprisingly so much better than the first book, however I don't think I plan to read any future installments as this wasn't my cup of tea.

This book is a pale imitation of the original. All of Francie’s complexity, intelligence, and passion have been ironed out. John has turned moralistic. The writing is dull and wooden. DNF.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I read the novel To Catch A Thief by Daniel Dodge a couple weeks ago and enjoyed it so finding this sequel (approved by the Dodge Estate and family) I figured I'd give it a go. I had very much liked John Robie and wanted to see what was next for him. Francie was less interesting to me but I was still all in for seeing where she was going.

I enjoyed this book as much or maybe even a tiny bit more than the prior. John is a great character and his growth was on display here. Francie was much more clearly a person to me and I liked that very much and found her journey interesting to read. There are other characters well drawn that we meet again but none so interesting to me than Lepic. Talk about traversing a canyon to get to the other side. I could not stand him in the first book and was hate-reading his character as this book began but before it was over, I absolutely pulled for him and liked him. I loved that!

The locale is still rendered in beautiful travelogue terms and glitters. The fashion sounded lovely and the cat and mouse and action kept me on the edge of my seat as I read. I cared and for that I couldn't ask an author for more. I am kind of hoping there may be more adventures for John, Francie and their friends. I'll happily read them.

Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the Advance Reader's Copy.

This had everything that I was looking for in a official sequel to “To Catch a Thief”, it had that element that I enjoyed from that book and was hooked with getting back to this world. The characters felt like they were the same characters and worked with what I remembered. It was a thrilling journey and had that charm that I was looking for.