The world of espionage

Dr B.

By Daniel Birnbaum, HarperCollins, $29.99

.. .. .. .. ..

.. .. Birnbaum is the former director of the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm. This, his debut book, is a war-time spy thriller with a difference.

The central character, Immanuel Birnbaum, the Dr B. of the title, is an evocation of the author's grandfather.

Like a number of other Scandinavian writers who have emerged in the past decade Birnbaum has proved himself an accomplished story teller.

The plot opens in 1933 with Hitler hungry for power.

Dr B. is a German-Jewish journalist based in Warsaw who is banned from writing in his homeland. As Poland moves closer to Nazi invasion, he escapes to Sweden where he writes for a liberal Swiss publication under the Dr B. beeline.

The story ramps up as he becomes entangled with British intelligence. In what could be a lift from Enid Blyton a letter written in secret ink comes to light. But this isn't the sort of letter a child of the Enid Blyton era would write.

Was Dr B. its author?

That's but one of the ongoing posers the storyline hangs on. Complex in parts it's not always a rapid page turner. But let us remember the world of espionage isn't necessarily a fastpaced place. —