The Silk code is packed with action, deceit, treason and "Oh My Gosh" moments. The author grabbed my interest from the beginning. I became invested in the story and many of the characters. At times I had to pause a few before going on, fearing what was going to happen next to Nancy. Nancy ended up in London, staying with her brother (not my favorite character). She thought she was going for a typing job at one of the war divisions on Baker Street. Her knowledge of French, German, Dutch and English makes her very desirable for more than typing. Her ability with puzzles has her standing out among other applicants. Soon she is knee deep in decoding for agents sent to Holland. Nancy fled Scotland after a nasty breakup. Yet soon she finds her self drawn to Tom, the man that had taught her about coding. The chemistry between them heats up the pages. The tensions between Tom and her brother add fuel to the fire. Tom has noticed problems in the coding. Something is wrong. It doesn't feel right. With Nancy's help he comes up with a solution but he has to sell his idea to others. At the same time someone is trying to take him down. What an eyeopening story. I didn't want to believe that it was so easy to infiltrate and influence others. How did they get anything done when everything, everyone was under suspicion? War makes for strange bed fellows. War makes for dramatic stories. War makes for stories packed with action. War makes people grab a connection wherever they can. The Silk Code brought all of this out in a story that was difficult to put down and very easy to pick back up. I am not sure about the ending. I am hoping that there will be a lot more stories. I hate being left hanging, but I guess it is something that many experienced during WW2.

The Silk Code is a World War Two espionage story and features English agents sent to Holland. Nancy leaves her Scottish home and a cheating fiancé to find work in London. She lodges with her brother and attends an interview for secretarial work. However, she discovers that the job is in the decoding department of the Special Operations Executive in Baker Street. Tom Lockwood is on a mission to find new ways for secret agents in the field to send coded messages. He gets involved with the Dutch agents and is concerned that the Germans have infiltrated the Dutch Resistance. Secrets, undercover activities and spying are central to this story, which takes place mainly in London and Holland and it is based on a true story of ‘Englandspiel’, a successful counterintelligence operation run by the Abwehr during the war. Nancy finds herself at the heart of finding the mole who is sending agents to their deaths. I liked the Dutch setting and the problematic situation for the agents. The story tripped along at a good pace and there was plenty to keep me interested.

It's Britain in 1943 and war is raging. Nancy Callaghan moves from Scotland to England in an attempt to forget her two-timing fiancé, and to do her part for the war effort. She meets with her brother who has arranged a secretarial job for her, however her aptitude for languages mean that she is soon recruited as a code-breaker for the SOE. She is soon involved in decrypting ‘indecipherables’ – scrambled messages from agents in the field. Up to her eyes in secrets and lies, she finds herself drawn closer to Tom Lockwood, a quiet codebreaking genius. Both soon come to realise SOE and its agents have been compromised, and that there's a traitor in the midst. The story soon moves ahead at a rate of knots and the reader is immersed in a story full of suspicion, betrayal and some romance. Deborah Swift has expertly captured all of the emotion and atmosphere that must have existed at that time, within the closeted corridors of Britain's espionage community. Not knowing who to trust, fearful of letting the enemy in on some vital facet of the war effort, the story plays out against the real-life background of ‘Englandspiel’, The English Game operated by the Nazis. Nancy's experiences both in Britain and later across Europe skilfully paint a picture of life during WW2, and she pulls no punches. Fifth columnists, spies, traitors and more are all represented across several story threads which call on real-life events and people. I've read more than a few SOE-based novels recently and this is up there with the best of them. I'd feared it would be a romance novel first and an espionage one second, but not so, and the book will appeal to fans of several genres. The research into how SOE operated is top-notch. I really did race to finish this book, such was the level of anticipation it raised in me. I'm certain other readers will feel the same. Heartily recommended.

An enjoyable read, easy going with a very brave heroine. Set during WW2 we have the making of an intelligent, bold and dedicated Nancy serving her country. Traitors and spies crop up when least expected, and relationships are built by unlikely friendships. Deborah Swift has written an engaging novel and provided a backdrop to the war of survival and not least love. My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Harper Collins for this advance copy.

An easy to read book but for me it lacked real depth of character or story. I did like that it was based on truth and it was fascinating to learn more about how women supported the war effort, but what some might find fast paced, I found a bit jarring with all the jumping from one crisis to another. Nancy and Tom could be interesting characters but I felt they could have been developed more - Nancy certainly, who seemed to go from wronged fiancée to a highly functioning operative in the blink of an eye. I envy the talents of writers who can formulate a story but for me this was a bit meh.