Inside the Lines - Good Old Reads

Earl Derr Biggers - Inside the Lines — Earl Derr Biggers

Inside the Lines by Earl Derr Biggers and Robert Welles Ritchie is a clever wartime spy novel set in Europe just as World War I was heating up. Throwing one curve after another, the authors have you continually guessing who are really the good guys.

High Point: Biggers and Ritchie manage to keep the reader guessing which side the characters are really working for.

Low Point: The pace sometimes outruns credibility, especially with the romantic bits.

Authors: Earl Derr Biggers & Robert Welles Ritchie

Publication Date: 1915

Genre: War

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Inside the Lines is a bit like a mini-version of Herman Wouk’s epic novel, The Winds of War. A group of people from England, Germany, and the United States keep running into one another—coincidentally—in France, Germany, Malta, and Gibraltar. Some are civilians trying to escape the continent. Others are military officers traveling to their assignments. And some are spies. But you won’t know for certain which side they’re on.

Biggers and Ritchie have a smooth, intelligent style with a pace to maintain your interest. If anything, the pace sometimes tends to outrun credibility. The romantic bits are implausible, moving way too far too quickly.

Sadly, the story reflects a naïve outlook about the coming war. Published in 1915, the characters have no idea of the staggering carnage and destruction to come in the years ahead. It’s clear they expect the war to conclude within a year or so, reflecting the widespread—but misplaced—optimism of that time

This book, by the way, was the only collaboration between Biggers and Ritchie. Biggers, of course, is better remembered as the creator of Charlie Chan, the Chinese detective featured in Biggers’ novels and in a number of popular films of the 1930s and 1940s.

Regardless of the warts, the novel provides a few pleasant hours of pure escape. The story is clever, the characters are interesting, and the conclusion isn’t immediately apparent. If you enjoy an old-fashioned spy thriller, you’ll enjoy the time you spend Inside the Lines.