The action of the Cheyney “Dark” books is always time-fused to go off on the day of publication. Whether one believes that Cheyney’s up-to-the-minute atmosphere springs from brilliant imagination, or whether one believes that Cheyney really has access to the low-down and high-up of Intelligence circles, readers will be forced to admit his remarkable foresight in Dark Interlude. Written before the Nuremburg trials, Cheyney foresaw the beginnings of the Nazi post-war Secret Societies, and their efforts to wreak some sort of revenge on their war-time opposite numbers.

During the war years the Cheyney “Dark” novels were a thorn in the side of our Nazi enemies. Circulated through Sweden into Denmark and Norway, they carried a message to those who needed cheer and encouragement in their secret and dangerous tasks. It was a Swedish publisher who smuggled Dark Duet into Paris, passed it to M. Sven Neilson (who publishes the “Dark” books in France to-day) while the Germans still occupied the city. Dark Duet, set up by Resistance Units, was the first British novel to be openly on sale in Paris as the German troops moved out – and all this without a word between author and publisher: it was neither possible nor necessary. Cheyney’s agents – both women – were missing: one in a concentration camp, the other shot by the Gestapo.

Dark Interlude follows in the grand tradition of the “Dark” books. It has all their tense muscular strength, their sophistication, excitement and humour. Only Cheyney can create the particular atmosphere that has stamped all his books with such distinction.