Review of The Double Image by Helen MacInnes

I have just finished reading The Double Image by renowned spy fiction writer Helen MacInnes. First published in 1965, the story begins in Paris when an American, John Craig bumps into his former college professor who says he has just seen a ghost in the form of S.S. Colonel Heinrich Berg, a man the professor has known since childhood.

When Sussman is found dead soon after, Craig is drawn into a complex plot involving MI6, the CIA, French intelligence, and a shadowy network of double agents.

MacInnes’ ability to create credible characters in well-researched settings shine through with vivid descriptions of Paris and Mykonos. The plot is intricate, with layers of deception and double identities which set MacInnes apart from most others but be warned, there are ‘a lot’ of characters which can take some keeping up with.

MacInnes wrote books in the era of Fleming, Le Carré and Len Deighton and she proved to be more than a worthy contemporary. Her espionage sits somewhere in the middle of the aforementioned, it’s darker than Fleming but without the grim austerity of Le Carré yet manages to engage the reader with a touch of Alistair MacLean’s ability to weave a compelling thriller. The novel’s Cold War setting with coded messages, microfilm, and fears of communism evokes the era’s paranoia and clumsy gadgetry and will appeal to fans of classic espionage fiction. Is it her best? Probably not but for anyone unfamiliar with her work it’s a very good introduction.

MacInnes was a very popular author and her books were reissued a number of times so putting together a collection of her books shouldn’t prove too difficult or costly. As a fan of the Companion Book Club however I feel these editions go a long way in helping get the feel of the era they were first published in..