The ’44 Vintage by Anthony Price

This sixth book in Anthony Price’s espionage-with-a-strong-trace-of-history series about David Audley breaks the chronological sequence, skipping back to 1944 and the first occasion when Audley met his colleague in his arm of the British secret service, Jack Butler. There is rather less rooting around in archaeological clues this time round, and it’s a book best read after its predecessors as much of its charm is seeing the early roots of both Audley and Butler’s personalities and relationship. Reading this book knowing who both characters later become makes this far more interesting, and at time amusing.

Continuing his pattern of rotating around the character through whose eyes the story is told, this time it’s back to Butler being the reader’s perspective as Butler and Audley dodge traitors in the British army, retreating German soldiers and a French resistance divided between communists and patriots as they try to avoid being bumped off themselves whilst hunting down a mysterious treasure cache.

All good fun, with less of Price’s trademark convoluted dialogue but still with plenty of twists and intrigue to entertain.

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