The Pretender

St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2008. As New. Agatha Cunnington needs a man. To more easily search for her missing brothe r, James, Agatha creates a new identity for herself as Mrs. Mortimer Appleq uist, but when the always conveniently unavailable Mortimer's presence is r equired at a social gathering, Agatha grabs the first man she can find to i mpersonate him. He turns out to be master spy Simon Montague Rain, who has disguised himself as a chimney sweep to sneak into Agatha's home to find ev idence of her brother's whereabouts, because not only is James one of his s pies but he also disappeared after some of Simon's other agents began turni ng up murdered. To get closer to Agatha, whom he believes to be James' mist ress and accomplice, Simon agrees to pose as Agatha's "husband," but Simon soon finds how easily distracted he is from his real mission by his all-too -tempting new "wife." The first in a new series in which each title will fe ature a different member of the Liars Club of spies, The Pretender is a wit ty and delectable combination of superbly crafted characters and an intrigu e-steeped plot in which Bradley beautifully manipulates the sinfully sensua l yet delicately romantic relationship between Agatha and Simon into an irr esistible and supremely satisfying love story.