Kirkus Reviews
The creator of bookstore proprietor Annie Darling (April Fool Dead, 2002, etc.) and former journalist Henrie O (Resort to Murder, 2001, etc.) temporarily abandons them for a trip to the attic. Two of the three recent reprints feature 12-year-old Gretchen and 16-year-old Millard growing up in small-town Oklahoma during WWII; the third focuses on a contemporary, 50-ish Hollywood screenwriter for a story with twists piled on twists. The lion's share of the space, though, is given to a 1976 chestnut that imitates but in no way equals the Nazi spy novels of Helen MacInnes. In "Spooked," the kids nail a black marketeer. In "Secrets," Millard is accused of theft, lies about his age, and enlists, leaving it to Gretchen to find the real culprit. "Turnaround" presents a wife who's targeted by her cheating husband, turns the tables, then gets targeted again, this time via blackmail. The vintage, 200-page "A Settling of Accounts" sends an antiques dealer on a buying trip to London, where she collides with a man who once collaborated with the Nazis, causing the death of everyone dear to her, and is now determined to kill her too.

Nice period detail in the war stories, from guzzling cherry phosphates at the drugstore counter to listening to "Chattanooga Choo Choo" on the jukebox to falling in love fast before your love can ship out. Otherwise, simple and predictable fare.