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Double Image

Helen MacInnes

3.89 · Rating details · 403 Ratings · 28 Reviews

This story begins when an American in Paris meets a former professor, who has just seen a dead Nazi walking the streets. The American becomes part of a team of intelligence agents from all countries, who converge on Mykonos to penetrate a Nazi-Fascist-Communist muliple identity.

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Published September 1988 by Amereon Limited (first published 1966)

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Lists with This Book

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré

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Dec 29, 2009 Kathryn rated it really liked it

I have a soft spot for her books even though the soviet spies seem almost quaint now. This is kind of like Mad Men the spy novel.

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Sep 29, 2009 Jc rated it really liked it

Helen MacInnes was one of the great spy/intrigue writers of the WWII/Cold War era, and one of the very few females in the genre. Certainly, she was one of the few women writing spy novels in the early 1940s when she started. And, she was a master. The Double Image was one of her later novels, written in 1966. As with most of her novels, Double Image is more Le Carre than Fleming – her novels were trying to portray the darker, grimmer side of the spy world rather than the gun-slinging, martini-qu ...more

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May 31, 2014 Beth rated it liked it

This was another enjoyable espionage novel by Helen MacInnes. I find myself wanting to read her books in the summer. This one was written in the 1960s. John Craig is an American historian visiting Europe to do research for a book. While in Paris he runs into an old college professor who sees a former Nazi, then turns up dead. Craig ends up being drawn into the hunt for the former Nazi who is really a Russian agent. He works with American intelligence agents in Paris and later Mykonos, Greece. Th ...more

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Jun 01, 2008 Carolyn rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: anyone who enjoys political intrigue and suspense

Probably my favorite of all Helen MacInnes's books. Most of us don't know what goes on the name of National Security, and the risk that our undercover CIA,(etc) agents take. This story takes place in the beautiful Greek Islands. I've read this book several times, and enjoy it each time.

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Mar 15, 2017 Carolyn Hill rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was surprised to come across in a local bookstore this reprint of a Helen MacInnes espionage thriller from 1966 that I'd never read. It turns out that Titan Books is re-publishing many of this "queen of spy writers'" works. MacInnes, a Scot who later with her husband became an American citizen, first wrote of the Nazis and WWII and its political aftermath and then the Cold War. Fluent in French and German, she became aware of Nazi violence and the growing menace of Hitler during her and her hu I was surprised to come across in a local bookstore this reprint of a Helen MacInnes espionage thriller from 1966 that I'd never read. It turns out that Titan Books is re-publishing many of this "queen of spy writers'" works. MacInnes, a Scot who later with her husband became an American citizen, first wrote of the Nazis and WWII and its political aftermath and then the Cold War. Fluent in French and German, she became aware of Nazi violence and the growing menace of Hitler during her and her husband's travels in Germany in the early 30's and kept a diary which lead to her first book a decade later published in the midst of the war. I read quite a bit of MacInnes back in the 70's and 80's and own a number of her mass market paperbacks. Reading tastes change, but I used to love reading suspense novels set in Europe written with a good eye for local color. Especially set in Greece as this novel is, where I spent a wonderful summer going around the country studying archaeology. (I was delighted that while in Athens, not only did the main character hang out with fun-loving scholars from the American School where I studied, but that one of the main good guy spies was an associate there. It is not surprising since MacInnes's husband was a classics scholar and professor at Columbia.) The story begins in Paris, travels to Athens, and then to Mykonos. As is the case in most of MacInnes's novels, the protagonist is a man, typically a scholar, writer, or lawyer - a quiet, intelligent, and capable type - who is not a spy or diplomat by trade, but a bystander who gets caught and drawn into international intrigue. John Craig, an historian, underplayed his real interests, too, as if he thought intellectual display was just another form of boasting, unnecessary if you were any good, embarrassing if you weren't. Craig runs into a former archaeology professor of his from Columbia, a Jew who survived a concentration camp, who was in Paris to testify against certain Nazis. While stopping for a drink at a cafe, the professor is approached by someone he tries to ignore. After the man leaves, he tells Craig that the man was a Nazi turned Communist that he knew as a boy, and the man wanted him to recognize him and feel threatened. The next day the professor turns up dead and Craig is drawn into a chain of events.

It took some concentration to get into this story, as there are numerous characters, mostly male, who are a part of an American diplomatic group and undercover intelligence agents, and their English, French, Russian, and Greek counterparts. Craig's connection is through his brother-in-law, a diplomat coming home from a stint in Moscow, passing through Paris on his way back home with his wife, Craig's sister. At a party Craig meets the diplomatic team, and relates his meeting with his professor. When it turns out that the professor was possibly murdered, and Craig was the last person to talk with him, the intelligent agents become quite interested in Craig. The narrative jumps around from Craig to the intelligence agents to the soviets and it takes several chapters for it to come together, while I tried to keep the characters straight. I do have to say that I guessed the double agent immediately from his first introduction. That did not interfere with the suspense, though, as the culprit is narrowed down to two men, and of course I couldn't be certain. As is also typical in a MacInnes novel, there is a little romance with a heroine who is attractive and intelligent like the male lead. She gets little time here, though, but there are two female intelligent agents, one on the good side, one on the bad, who play their roles. They of course have to be decorative in order to attract their prey, and are in typical female roles of the time as secretaries, hostesses, and interior designers, not to mention arm candy. So it must be noted here that though this is written by a woman, it is very much of its time, and gender roles are well established. MacInnes herself was in her late fifties when this was published, as she was born in 1907, and sometimes her observations about younger people's mode of dress in the swinging sixties seem like an old-fashioned great aunt's. Her understanding of intelligence maneuverings seems well-founded, though, as her husband had served in the British MI6, even though the newest Bond-type gadgets seem ridiculously primitive in our technological age.

The unsettling tenor of current events had me wanting to read an espionage novel again, so this was a timely find. I enjoy MacInnes's books, and her intelligent, cultivated, and caring heroes, even if they are a bit straight-laced. The action and suspense are not as violent or as edgy as those thrillers of today, which suits me fine. There is some violence, as the subject matter would indicate, but the worst of it is only hinted at. This was a re-visit to a former era, which suddenly seems to be relevant again. I would recommend to those who like an espionage suspense tale that is intelligent, while lighter and less depressing than some of the grimmer novels of this genre. Three and a half stars rounded up. ...more

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Aug 05, 2017 Scott Goossen rated it liked it

An easy, interesting read. Almost four stars

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Aug 09, 2017 Jennifer Morefield rated it liked it

This was a post WWII spy novel. It was a bit slow paced and a bit complicated. It was hard to tie all the characters in and tie the story together. Not bad, but not great.

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Apr 03, 2012 Simon Mcleish rated it liked it

Originally published on my blog here in January 1999.

The Double Image is a competent spy thriller, not the chauvinist action of Ian Fleming nor the convoluted plotting of John le Carré but more straightforward and down-to-earth than either.

John Carey, an economist, in Paris while travelling to Greece to research the history of trade routes, meets his old teacher Professor Sussman by chance. Sussman has just returned from Frankfurt where he has been testifying at the trial of some former guards f ...more

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May 31, 2015 Kay rated it really liked it

With the stock figure of the naïve American in Paris who suddenly finds himself running in an international post World-War II spy-counterspy race to capture a very nasty Nazi who got away, this old-fashioned story of foreign intrigue is classically character-based serious Marx Brothers drama. Beautiful women play important parts and Mykonos, with Mykoniots, provide a brilliantly rich Greek islands stage for the drama. Next time I may just write down all the names and really try to keep everyone ...more

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May 24, 2013 Grace rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction, for-fun, spy

Wow. This was a completely hilarious spy novel of the anti-communist era. Granted, the gadgets, tricks, running around in a foreign country... I can see why they were such a hit back in those days. And now I can finally say I read an original "Russian spy novel".

This particular story involves a guy by the name of Berg, who was in Nazi Germany. He worked in a concentration camp releasing all communists. After the war, he was declared dead, but he really went to Russia, where he became an agent. ...more

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Apr 09, 2015 Calzean rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: author-scotland, historical-fiction, wwii, woman-author

An holocaust survivor sees a Nazi goaler who is supposedly dead. The survivor is then found dead. And so the story of who is doing what to who starts and goes on and on.

Hasn't aged well. Does not have the complexities of Le Carre or the darkness of a really sinister villain. While it has exciting technical spy gadgets which might have been interesting at the time, the story relies on a lot of dialogue as the various parties attempt to outwit each other. As with a lot of espionage stories the rol ...more

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Oct 02, 2013 Greer Andjanetta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A typical HM murder mystery set in Europe, this time involving a former German extermination camp guard who was presumed dead at the end of the war but is recognized in Paris by one of his former inmates. Now a Russian agent, the German kills the former prisoner, now a professor and a former student of the professor, along with the inevitable beautiful young woman, set out to solve the murder and become embroiled with spies and espionage. Quite readable.

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Mar 03, 2015 Rebecca rated it it was amazing

I loved Helen MacInness when I was in high school. The book held up well on re-reading it so many years later. Good plot, likeable characters, great locations, and good writing. I'm setting myself a goal - to read all of her books in the order they were written. With luck I'll be able to find them all.

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Nov 17, 2015 Fredrick Danysh rated it liked it

Set in the post-Kennedy Cold War era, this spy novels places historian in Europe doing research for a book on trade routes where he accidentally runs into an old college professor. When the professor dies Craig is caught up in the spy game as he held track down a Nazi who was presumed dead for the past decade. He also meets the girl of his dreams and must protect her.

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Jan 26, 2016 John Senner rated it really liked it

Good old cold-war-era spy story. John Craig is an academic doing research on a book and he meets his old professor in Paris, who is being followed by a Nazi war criminal/soviet spy. And the trouble begins.

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Mar 25, 2012 Liz V. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A chance encounter with a former professor and the story of a supposedly dead Nazi walking the streets of Paris leads John Craig into the world of espionage/counterespionage and from Paris to Athens and Mykonos.

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Dec 18, 2016 Barbara Klein rated it it was amazing

The first book of hers that I read and still one of my favorites.

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Mar 08, 2016 Cynthia Franklin pelfrey rated it it was ok

Could not finish it. I don't know why, but it just didn't call to me.

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Nov 04, 2008 Heather rated it really liked it

This is my absolute favorite of her books! (At least of the ones I've read so far!

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Sep 05, 2012 Elaine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I always enjoy this author's books. Well done, and good to read.

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Jul 21, 2016 Akwhepworth rated it liked it

I had trouble keeping all the characters straight --- and following the plot for that matter. Loved the setting, but I just didn't pay enough attention to the details in this one.

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May 28, 2009 Douglas Wilson rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction

Good.

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Nov 11, 2015 Tanya added it · review of another edition

Another hit

The author has another hit mystery. I love her books and find satisfaction in every one that I read. Well drawn characters and good historical information.

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Apr 07, 2015 Amy marked it as abandoned · review of another edition

I just can't with communists.

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Alexander Hale rated it liked it
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About Helen MacInnes

Helen MacInnes

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Helen MacInnes was a Scottish-American author of espionage novels. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in Scotland in 1928 with a degree in French and German. A librarian, she married Professor Gilbert Highet in 1932 and moved with her husband to New York in 1937 so he could teach classics at Columbia University. She wrote her first novel, Above Suspicion, in 1939. She wrote many bestsell ...more

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