The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan

The Spies of Shilling Lane is another British World War II era novel from the author of the best-seller The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir.  

For twenty years, the bossy Mrs. Braithwaite reigned supreme over the village of Ashcombe. But after The Divorce, her unwilling subjects turned on her. Finding herself an outcast, Mrs. B. seeks the company of her estranged daughter, Betty, who left for London as soon as war broke out. 

When Mrs. B. arrives in London, Betty’s landlord, mild-mannered Mr. Norris, informs her that he has not seen Betty in days. With London under regular bombardment, this is distressing news. Not one to sit on her hands, Mrs. B. heads into the fray, dragging poor Mr. Norris with her. In her search for Betty, who is not a clerk at the Bexley Sewage Works as she claimed, Mrs. B. successfully steamrolls policemen, kidnappers, MI5 agents, suspicious boyfriends, and Mr. Norris.

Both empowered and humbled by her Blitz adventure, Mrs. B. is never going back to Ashcombe Village.