The Undercover Bookshop

By Katherine Reay

During the winter of 1950 in the small Cotswold village of Great Rollright, amateur sleuth Gemma Brown starts to suspect that the town's best baker, Ursula Beurton, is a Soviet spy, tumbling her headlong into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse that ends with a decision that will lead her to the Undercover Bookshop and change her life forever.

Recently moved to the English Cotswolds, Gemma Brown desperately wants to create the kind of idyllic life she's read about in her favorite mystery novels, with herself as the leading lady. But fitting in proves difficult as Gemma is more adept at solving mysteries and setting up the village's first bookstore than she is at baking cakes or grasping social niceties. Nevertheless, she finds a friend in Peggy, a young woman recently moved to town herself, and Ursula Beurton, who is not only the village's best baker but an enigmatic figure who sparks controversy in the small-town gossip network.

As Gemma spends more time with Ursula, she begins to suspect all those novels are affecting her thinking. The oddities she starts to notice must be her imagination because, if not, they point to something far more dangerous than winning the local baking contest or being placed on the church committee. Could her neighbor be a real spy?

Following her instincts and a few skills learned through fiction, Gemma soon becomes embroiled in an international intrigue involving the village's mysterious benefactor, Lady Marchmont, MI5, and the KGB. In an unexpected twist, however, Ursula asks Gemma for a favor which may endanger all their lives as their next chapter unfolds in Gemma's new venture, the Undercover Bookshop.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400352576
• ISBN13: 9781400352579
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: Harper Muse
• Length: 320 Pages

Customer Reviews

Cold War Era Mystery

A Cold War era story based on real-life spies, set in a quiet rural English village, with an intriguing mystery. This well-written story would especially appeal to fans of classic mysteries--many titles are mentioned--with its bookshop theme, and a spy game at play. It is an engaging read told in retrospect back to the winter of 1949-1950, from the viewpoint of a woman whose life was changed by her friendship with a person living a double life. The main characters were people who had lived through World War II, in a place that was still recovering and trying to find its way forward; people living seemingly normal lives but hiding secrets. It really pulled me in once the story got rolling, and held just enough tension to keep me wondering how it would end. The little bit of tender romance was sweet too. An enjoyable clean read for fans of mysteries with some real history. Recommend! 4.5 stars (An ebook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.)