Helen MacInnes
68
Published 2023-05-19
Widely available for not a lot of money and always good value.
All Comments (3)
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Here's a case of serendipity: among my late grandfather's possessions was a signed copy of Above Suspicion. The inscription in it read: "To the man sleeping on this train, Please be more careful in the future; this book could have been your wallet, only emptied! Regards, Helen MacInnes". It took some asking around, but the legend within the family is that, while my grandpa was taking a nap, Miss MacInnes took a seat next to him. Spotting the book in his coat pocket (he loved to read and often carried paperbacks when he traveled), she slipped the book out, penned the cheeky comment, and gently returned it where she found it. Received her autograph without actually meeting her. Whether it was a brief clandestine encounter, or just an imaginitive prank by some other passenger who'd come across him in his sleep has been good-naturedly debated within my family for decades.
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Above Suspicion (1941) was adapted into a 1943 American spy film directed by Richard Thorpe and featuring Fred MacMurray and Joan Crawford. Assignment in Brittany (1942) was adapted into a 1943 war film starring Jean-Pierre Aumont and Signe Hasso. The Salzburg Connection (1968) and The Venetian Affair (1963) were adapted into films by the same name respectively.