I just finished reading The Numbered Account, another adventure with the intrepid Julia Probyn. In this, the third in the series, author Ann Bridge has Julia in Switzerland on the trail of an impostor heiress and the two nefarious men who have employed her to steal not only money from 'the numbered account' left by the heiress's grandfather, but also the blueprints for some sort of oil pipeline that the British Secret Service would like to keep out of the wrong hands.
As usual, Julia knows just what to do and say so that (almost) all works out in the end. In this tale, she meets, works with, and falls a little in love with a British Intelligence agent with the unlikely last name of Antrobus. (Every time I came across his name I thought it was referring to a Swiss transportation company.) Anyway, he and Julia share a kiss or two, drink many glasses of chilled Cinzano, and save the day. The romance, though, is short-lived, but perhaps they will meet again in one of the remaining five books.
I must say Julia comes across as a bit of a snob in this story. She ends up befriending the young impostor heiress who is not of Julia's 'upper class' and boy, does she have some nasty barbs about the young girl's lifestyle and background.
Other than that, Ms. Bridge has a wonderful time delighting the reader with all sorts of information about the native wildflowers and birds of Switzerland, descriptions of the various Alpine lakes and peaks, and a glimpse into the lifestyles of the Swiss citizens.
The next adventure takes Julia to the islands off the coast of Scotland. My bags are packed.
Having just finished Ann Bridge's The Portuguese Escape (1958), I am ready to plan a visit to this country that she describes most lovingly.
Ms. Bridge's books featuring Julia Probyn are a wonder. They are part suspense, part travelogue, part a picture of current events at the time, and in this one, part primer in the Portuguese language.
Here we have diplomats, royalty, country ways, fashion, Big Bad Communists, romance, a wedding, churches and windmills, fast cars, picnics, ocean swims, intrigue, priests, narrow escapes, and kidnapping.
The plot revolves around young Countess Hetta who has just escaped from Communist-run Hungary and has arrived in Lisbon to be reunited with her mother. Hetta is drawn into a scheme by British Intelligence to help identify a Hungarian priest who has also escaped the country and is headed to America.
There are all sorts of spy-type goings on with telephone conversations in code and car chases on winding roads which kept me reading, but mostly I was enjoying learning a bit about the country and its ways.
As for Julia, she appears always at the right time. She is in Lisbon as a freelance journalist to cover a royal wedding. She is confident, smart, fashionable, down-to-earth, and people like her. She knows everyone, thinks quickly on her feet, and doesn't put up with any nonsense. The perfect heroine!
She is in a somewhat on/off relationship with the British Intelligence agent who is in charge of getting this Hungarian priest moved on to America, so there is that bit of romance going on as well.
This is the second in a series of eight books that Ms. Bridge wrote featuring the intrepid journalist and they all take place in different countries. I enjoy the pacing of the novels. The writing moves smoothly between action and information about the locale. It is certainly fun to be a part of Julia Probyn's world.
British author Ann Bridge (1889-1974) wrote a passel of novels based on her travels around the world. She also wrote a series of entertaining mysteries featuring Julia Probyn, intrepid journalist and part-time spy for British Intelligence. The first in that series, The Lighthearted Quest, took Ms. Probyn to Morocco.
The time span in the Probyn mysteries covers the years 1956 to 1972 - a time of civilized travel - and the stories take the reader to foreign locales including Portugal, Switzerland, and Ireland.
I bring this up because today Amazon has all eight of the Kindle editions of the mysteries published by Bloomsbury Reader (as well as other classic ones by Edmund Crispin, Margery Allingham and Nicolas Freeling) on sale for $1.99 each. I paid $7 for the first one in January 2012 when I was introduced to this globe-trotting heroine. So now it looks like I can get the remaining seven for only twice that much!
Ms. Probyn's adventures in North Africa led me to Edith Wharton's In Morocco, an account of her time spent there after World War I. Wharton stayed in the Bahia Palace, a fact mentioned in Ms. Probyn's tale.
A case of one book leading to another, or in this case, many others.
