April in Paris, 1921, Tessa Lunney

The First World War is over and to survivors, like Australian, Kiki Button and Brit, Bertie Browne the desire to immerse themselves in a vibrant passionate Paris is strong.

Kiki was a nurse during the war, amongst other things and her past is about to catch up to her. Fox, surgeon and spymaster has found her. He wants her to track down a mole using her gossip columnist persona as cover. She models for Picasso and is asked to recover a stolen painting of his. Kiki, with Bertie’s help, flits from society party to Russian tea rooms to dark factory halls.

She decides to play along with Fox because he holds the fate of one of her dearest friends in his hands and because she enjoys the frisson of intrigue more than she’d care to admit.