The Little Parachute

What is the significance of a boy’s drawing of a little parachute? That’s the question facing Sturbannführer Kraus, an SS officer stationed in Paris, as he interrogates the boy’s adoptive mother, Angélique, in this solid espionage thriller set in 1943 from Janes (The Sleeper). Kraus suspects that 10-year-old Martin Bellecour’s image is evidence that a British operative has parachuted into France to learn the location of the German V-1 rocket launching sites. He later learns that Angélique may be acting as a courier for those in the underground planning to sabotage the sites. Angélique claims that the pair have come to Paris from Abbeville so that Martin, who’s been unable to talk since the German invasion of France in 1940, can see a medical specialist. Angélique has been having an affair with Martin’s father—a fact she hides from the Nazi—and that adds drama to the story line. Fans of Janes’s Kohler and St. Cyr mysteries (Clandestine, etc.), which are likewise set in occupied France, will enjoy this standalone, even though its characters and plot are less memorable than those in the series. (Aug.)