I really enjoyed this novel which is more of derring-do than espionage. Docking at Tangiers in April 1941, DeHaan, master of the rusting merchant ship the Noordendam is co-opted into the Royal Dutch Navy and then used by British Naval Intelligence. The action takes place in the Mediterranean, and encompasses the German assault on Crete. By the time the Noordendam sailing under the false colours of neutral Spain as the Santa Rosa has reached the Baltic, Germany launches its invasion of Russia.

Of course the Brasserie Heininger gets a mention, and one suffers the agonies of the rounabout exfiltration of British spy S. Kolbe from Germany.