Assignment in Brittany

One of the few female spy writers, Helen MacInnes (1907-1985) wrote a series of espionage novels that typically involved mid-level agents pulled into a fight against authoritarian regimes. In Assignment in Brittany, a British intelligence official impersonates a captured Frenchman, and steps into his personal life back in France. While the entire set-up is wildly implausible — e.g., that the Frenchman’s fiancee and mother would be so easily fooled — the action on the ground is fast and well-plotted.