Blog Tour: Split Code – Dorothy Dunnett

To all appearances Joanna Emerson is a fully qualified, gold-medalled graduate of the world’s finest college of Nursery Nurses. No sooner is she engaged as a nanny to Benedict, newly born heir to a vast cosmetic fortune however, than she becomes caught up in a complex kidnap plot.

But the enigmatic portrait painter, yachtsman and former spy, Johnson Johnson is never far away – and he knows the dangerous game she’s playing.

Before long, bullets are flying, and most of them in Joanna’s direction.

Dorothy Dunnett (1923-2001) gained an international reputation as a writer of historical fiction. She later turned to crime writing with the acclaimed Dolly books, aka the Johnson Johnson series. She was a trustee of the National Library of Scotland, and a board member of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. In 1992 she was awarded an OBE for her services to literature. A leading light in the Scottish arts world and a renaissance woman, Dunnett was also a professional portrait painter and exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy on many occasions.

My thoughts: another brilliant outing from Johnson Johnson and his marvellous yacht Dolly, this time we’re off to the Croatian coast, although it’s still Yugoslavia at this point in time.

Joanna is one of those practically perfect in every way nannies, graduate of something similar to Norland (they’re the ones in the smart brown uniforms hired by celebrities, the very wealthy and royalty), with every possible event prepared for and never a hair out of place. She can sail a yacht through a storm, while also looking after a baby, two unconscious men, some seasick kidnappers and making soup.

She’s also a crack code writer, working for the British government in the form of her father. And someone has a very important, very secret document that was encoded by her and now they want her to decode it. Kidnapping Joanna and her three month old change, who has horrible parents, might just be the way to force her hand. She’d never let the baby come to harm. Good thing Johnson is around though, she needs a spot of assistance escaping and capturing the kidnappers.

With bullets whizzing about, millionaires having affairs and behaving badly, is it any wonder she’s starting to question her vocation – maybe being a nanny is not for her.

Another hilarious and action packed book, the second to last sadly, in this tremendous and highly entertaining series.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.