Tommy Hambledon #5

The Fifth Man – Manning Coles

This 1946 thriller stars the MI5 spymaster Tommy Hambledon in the fifth of 26 novels that stretch from 1940 to 1963. The main story is about five turncoat English POW’s who have done a course in tradecraft and returned to England by Nazi intelligence for spying and sabotage. But the bulk of the thriller is taken up by a picaresque told by the fifth POW, Anthony Colemore.

Before the war, Anthony was a booze smuggler, sneaking in continental whiskey past the English excise man. This crooked experience has made him quick-witted, silver-tongued, and self-possessed in jams that would send most of us off our heads. Anthony is the James Bond-type lovable rogue who tells his adventures in episodes fun to read. I detest spoilers so I won’t hint at any of his surreal exploits or hair-raising escapes. But there’s a chaotic, absurd element in these predicaments that we associate with the best English humor.

After Anthony tells his story, the narrative turns to his task of unmasking “Our Leader in England,” as the Nazi spies call him. The final resolution of the plot is not as suspenseful as Anthony’s tale but it is well-written, funny, and not too long. The setting of wartime London feels right too with references to shortages, black-outs, travel restrictions, sirens and searchlights.

The pen-name Manning Coles is based the authors’ names, two English neighbors Cyril Henry Coles (1899-1965) and Adelaide Frances Oke Manning (1891-1959). Coles worked for British Intelligence in both WWI and WWII. In short but dense novels, they managed to blend the ingredients of the police procedural, spy fiction, and breezy comic novel.