MIDNIGHT IN EUROPE by Alan Furst

My new favourite author, whom I have never heard of till recently. And yet he is a prolific writer of historical spy novels, having written fourteen in his Night Soldiers series since 1988, of which this one is number thirteen.  This is not flippant, airplane type reading, but more along the lines of Graeme Greene and John Le Carre - carefully plotted, very atmospheric, interesting ever changing relationships between the characters. I love spy/espionage/thriller novels, and when there is a historical framework as there is with the Night Soldiers series, I am in heaven. Most of this series is set in Europe and Eastern Europe between 1933 and 1944, with many of the characters appearing and reappearing throughout the series.

This particular story centres around the Spanish Civil War, at the beginning of 1938. Fascism is taking over Europe with the rise of Hitler, Mussolini and of course Franco on his way to smashing the Republicans. Cristian Ferrar is a Spanish emigre, living in Paris, his family living in a small town northwest of Paris. He is a brilliant lawyer, working for a top flight international law firm that also has offices in New York. He moves easily between the very different worlds of Paris, New York and his Spanish birthright, the epitome of the perfect European gentleman. He should have been a diplomat. His intelligence, his charm, his smoothness and above all his despair at what is going on in Spain lead him into the murky world of arms running to deliver arms and machinery to the south of Spain. Defeat is imminent, but they aren't going down without a fight.

There are a number of sub plots going on too, with the law firm representing many Spanish emigres, dispossessed by what is happening in Spain. This is in addition to Ferrar navigating his way around his unnerving new world, always alert to whether his compatriots are spies themselves or not. Which of course keeps the reader riveted to the pages all the way to the end. It's only 250 pages, and yet the writing is so concise and elegant, the words so carefully chosen, it is just so good. My latest author to stalk....