Too Bad To Die

Mathews (who also writes as Stephanie Barron) continues her interest in World War II espionage (after Jack 1939) with this thriller involving the fictional exploits of a young Ian Fleming as he tries to derail an assassination plot involving Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Josef Stalin. The three world leaders gather in Tehran to decide on the next move in the fight against the Nazis. Fleming, who is the personal assistant to the director of naval intelligence, is responsible for planning this important, secret meeting. He is helped by his boarding school friend Michael Hudson, who is now part of the OSS. Working with Alan Turing, Fleming uncovers information about a possible attack on the three men, and the narrative takes off, as suspicions are cast on everyone from Pamela Churchill (Winston's daughter-in-law) to Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the uncrowned empress of China.