Firstly, I am not the target audience for this book. It's aimed at much younger readers but that didn't stop me enjoying it. It was very reminiscent of the adventure stories I loved to read when I was young, about children finding their path through an adult world. With a few differences, war was rarely mention in the books of my childhood, and at that time nobody had heard of Bletchley Park!
Robyn is a 13 year old girl who lives in a cottage on the Bletchley estate, pre-war her father was the chauffeur, now with the invasion of many hundreds of service personnel he is Head of Transport. With security being so tight it is decided that Robyn will be taken out a school and put to work in the pigeon loft. That doesn't take up much of her time and, being an inquisitive child, she starts nosing around in places that she shouldn't. This gets her into frequent trouble with the boss, a man she nicknames the Heron.
The only other children she gets to see are Mary, a former schoolfriend who is now a bike messenger, and Ned the son of the local undertaker who is providing wood to build the many huts in the grounds. Together this gang of three convince themselves something is amiss and that there is a spy at Bletchley, and take it upon themselves to 'out' him..... Robyn is sure it's the Heron, the other less certain.
Of course, being an adventure story there is someone up to no good and in their attempts to foil them almost bring a most top secret operation into the open. But, naturally, all come good in the end. Any child who loves reading will enjoy this book.
Robyn is a 13 year old girl who lives in a cottage on the Bletchley estate, pre-war her father was the chauffeur, now with the invasion of many hundreds of service personnel he is Head of Transport. With security being so tight it is decided that Robyn will be taken out a school and put to work in the pigeon loft. That doesn't take up much of her time and, being an inquisitive child, she starts nosing around in places that she shouldn't. This gets her into frequent trouble with the boss, a man she nicknames the Heron.
The only other children she gets to see are Mary, a former schoolfriend who is now a bike messenger, and Ned the son of the local undertaker who is providing wood to build the many huts in the grounds. Together this gang of three convince themselves something is amiss and that there is a spy at Bletchley, and take it upon themselves to 'out' him..... Robyn is sure it's the Heron, the other less certain.
Of course, being an adventure story there is someone up to no good and in their attempts to foil them almost bring a most top secret operation into the open. But, naturally, all come good in the end. Any child who loves reading will enjoy this book.