Trapeze, Mawer - B-

                                            This is a novel set in WW2 and features the activities of a female SOE agent infiltrated into France in late 1943. In reality, Special Operation Executive sent 39 women to France.  Exactly one-third of those women died in France or Germany. There are a number of movies, including a recent BBC television production, on the topic. Also within the last few years, there was an obituary published for an Englishwoman who had famously succeeded in the post-war era as well. The reviews and plaudits for this book were very high when it came out a few years ago. One on the cover has a reference to it being "LeCarre-like".  For the first three-quarters of the book, I kept seeking LeCarre-like passages, background or action. However, the author found his inner John Cornwall after 'Alice' landed in France and it finished with a flourish.