The Torch of Tangier is the second in the Lily Sampson series, the first being A Fly Has a Hundred Eyes. This time archaeologist Lily is working in Tangier with a multi-cultural team excavating the Caves of Hercules. It is 1942 and it is not long before the war impacts on their work. The caves become closed off and Lily and her co-workers are unable to leave for home, especially Lily who would not be able to cross the Atlantic for fear of U-boats sinking her ship.
Lily and her mentor, Professor Drury, pass the time by working at the American Legation writing a detailed propaganda pamphlet and then Lily gets recruited as a spy, ultimately to relay the message that Operation Torch, the invasion of Northern Africa, can begin.
I was expecting The Torch of Tangier to be a bit like Elizabeth Peters' non-series books which featured feisty heroines in exotic locales and so this one had a high standard to reach. The good parts of The Torch of Tangier are the descriptions of Tangier, Gibraltar and the excavation site and also the conveying of the tension of being a foreigner surrounded by many nationalities, most of whom are hostile. The weaknesses include the fact that there are many characters, most of whom are thinly sketched in, and it's hard to remember who is who. For instance, one main character is British but I hadn't realised this until quite a way through the book. Also, I did find the espionage plot rather confusing, with many acronyms and organisations referred to that I was unfamiliar with, however I'm not the original target audience ie American. None-the-less this was a quick and interesting read which I think could have been better had it been fleshed out to more than its 193 pages.
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Karen Meek