From the Bookshelf of Retro Reads…

The Venetian Affair

Helen MacInnes

Start date: February 1, 2018

Finish date: February 28, 2018

Discussion: Group Reads

Discussion leader: Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽

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What Members Thought

Jan 24, 2018 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, suspense, spy-vs-spy, italy, france

Helen MacInnes' 1963 Cold War spy thriller still packs a pretty good punch.

Bill Fenner, one of those competent amateur sleuths/spies that MacInnes is fond of, is a drama critic and an ex-journalist, and also an ex-operative of sorts. He travels from New York City to Paris, I think to write a play and vacation? Anyway, neither of those things happens. He starts with an accidentally traded raincoat in a fortuitous airport mixup, finds a major surprise hidden in the other person's raincoat, makes ...more

63 likes · Like · see review

Jan 27, 2018 Barb in Maryland rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller-goodies, romance

I first read this sometime in the mid '60s ('63?'64? )* and loved it. MacInnes did Cold War spy thrillers so well. I haven't re-read it in almost 50 years (!), so it will be interesting to see how well it holds up during our Feb '18 Retro Reads group read. I am looking forward to revisiting the era.

ETA 2/11/2018
I first read this as a teen shortly after it came out. Absolutely gripping and I loved the romance.
There is nothing like reading a thriller when neither you nor the author know how the mu ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Aug 17, 2025 Leslie Ray rated it really liked it

Bill Fenner is a journalist turned playwright who accidentally switches his trench coat for another. Within a hidden pocket of this coat is a huge surprise that takes him to his embassy. This good turn embroils him in a cold war game of international espionage.
There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but the characters are well developed, and the European scenery is described so well. As this is set in the 1960s, there are a lot of historical references to the post WWII climate and the e ...more

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Jan 19, 2018 Bobbie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: group-reads, mystery-suspense

This was a group read for the Retro Reads group and I really enjoyed it. Not normally a spy novel reader, I read this one for this group read but also because I came of age in the Cold War era and remember the fears of growing up in that time. Being set in Paris and then in Venice also gives it added interest. I found it very entertaining and had a hard time putting it down.

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Feb 15, 2018 Critterbee❇ rated it really liked it

Shelves: atw, f, library

A fast paced, intelligent, retro-ish cold war espionage action extravaganza, with likable and competent main characters, an intense countdown to a deadline, and despicable villains, set in a gorgeously described Venice.

Bill Fenner and Claire Langley make a great team, handling a threat to Western Europe and undeniable mutual attraction. This was a very enjoyable read.

ATW 2018 Italy

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Feb 18, 2018 Katy rated it liked it · review of another edition

An enjoyable Cold War Era mystery/romance.

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Feb 13, 2018 Elinor rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This Cold War thriller requires you to be on your mental toes to keep track of the characters and the somewhat lengthy setup. Once the action moves from Paris to Venice, it's non-stop as the main characters are constantly on the move, trying to outsmart the enemy. Venice, at least in those days, provided ample dark corners for hiding and seeking. The handsome hero Bill and his clever blonde love interest Claire even use gondolas to escape from the nefarious bad guys! It felt as if I were watchin ...more

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Apr 15, 2016 Theresa rated it really liked it

Shelves: suspense

I seem to be in the mood for cloak-and-dagger type fiction these days, as I seem to be on a MacInnes kick!

This book moved faster than the others I have read (so far) by this author (in fact, I read "The Venetian Affair" in two days).

Bill Fenner is a journalist sent to Paris to review and write some articles on French theater and the arts.

"The man across the aisle seemed adept at air travel, after all. He was already secure in his safety belt, and was setting his watch forward. He certainly wasn I seem to be in the mood for cloak-and-dagger type fiction these days, as I seem to be on a MacInnes kick!

This book moved faster than the others I have read (so far) by this author (in fact, I read "The Venetian Affair" in two days).

Bill Fenner is a journalist sent to Paris to review and write some articles on French theater and the arts.

"The man across the aisle seemed adept at air travel, after all. He was already secure in his safety belt, and was setting his watch forward. He certainly wasn't going to be caught unawares by a sunrise only a few hours away. He will eat a large dinner, Fenner surmised, go soundly to sleep, wake up looking efficient, while the rest of us, having had a nightcap or two, and read, and talked, will be just about thinking of bed by the time we arrive. With that he dismissed the man in the brown suit, a pretty dull and harmless fellow, and began to look through a copy of 'Realites' to get some French phrases rolling on his tongue again."

However, all is not as it seems. When the plane lands, the man in the brown suit suffers a heart attack and Bill's raincoat is mistakenly switched for his. Back at his hotel, Bill finds an envelope inside the raincoat that contains ten ten thousand dollar bills.

And so the plot unravels, as Bill finds himself caught up in this espionage story that reveals an assassination plot (to be cleverly pinned on America) and in the process, Bill becomes involved in rescuing a damsel in distress who is not as helpless as she seems. From France to Venice, the reader is caught up in hoping that the plot will be uncovered in time.

"I am not a labor-saving device. I'm not just a lucky opportunity, either, to help someone get a promotion. And here is something for you to know: I may do this job, but not for you or your department; not even for your whole organization. I may do it because I just like Americans to be able to go on living their own kind of life. That's why I'm listening to you."

A mix of suspense, romance, and political intrigue, I enjoyed this novel and was rooting for the 'good guys' all the way, hoping for a good ending with the assassination attempt foiled and the 'bad guys' in custody. I particularly enjoyed reading parts of the story when the Italian, French, British and American police worked together. It made me wonder if that type of international cooperation still exists today, and if it is as successful as it was in this book.

As with her other spy stories, there is never a complete happy ending for all the characters but that is partly what makes MacInnes' writing so realistic and believable (the consequences of risk).

Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. ...more

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