Barbara Freethy bit off more than this reader can swallow. Writing a dumbed down version of "Russia House," "Parent Trap," and Anastasia, the author actually has a great plot and story idea, but she didn't research, didn't build up enough detail and didn't enrich this with real characters. The plywood cutout characters failed to elicit any emotional attachment from me and the whodunnit aspect of the story was apparent from the beginning. I wanted to get lost in the prose and the story, but I couldn't suspend my disbelief. Such a good story idea. I miss Cold War stories and I wanted to love Julia as much as Hayley Mills (Parent Trap), but it was not to be.