The Castle Café in a village near the White Cliffs of Dover is the location for turmoil and skulduggery in the latest instalment of the World War II women's fiction series. Nellie Castle, who runs the business she founded with her late husband, has to keep SECRETS AT THE DOVER CAFÉ.

A top-secret initiative of the Navy includes Marge Atkinson, WRN, and other young women who are enlisted to test out shipping manoeuvres on dry land. The wargame is needed because Nazi submarines are firing on merchant shipping and troop ships alike in the North Atlantic. If Britain is to be resupplied and America is to join the fight, the plucky WRNs need to figure out ways to escape the hunters.

Meanwhile, at the café in town, a spiv called Lou Carter obliges Nellie Castle to stash some black-market contraband in her basement, which is also used as an air raid shelter. Most of the bombing raids on the south of England have to cross Dover, so the shelter is in constant use at night. This is 1942, and shortages are already keenly felt. Some spivs would slip an item or two to otherwise upright citizens, doing them a favour. Lou Carter isn’t so inclined and goes as far as to threaten Nellie and her little grandchildren if she tells anyone what he’s up to.    

Rodney Castle is Nellie’s son, and we catch up with him as he tries to wangle some leave to be with his love, Marge, who is based in a big house at Folkestone. There are other complications, but by now, we have the weight of the background soap opera from the previous books, and every now and then, the characters relive a particularly dramatic memory – as one might – such as an air raid or catching a spy. This can make the present tale feel more fraught than it actually is.

If you have been following the Dover Café series by Ginny Bell, you won’t need urging to try the latest book. Based on actual events, with any changes explained in an author’s note, the portrait of a community braving out everyday life in the face of the war is noteworthy and exciting. As the village is isolated on the front line, the character is quite different from tales of the London or Liverpool experience during the Blitz. SECRETS AT THE DOVER CAFÉ is book six, and you don’t need to have read the earlier stories to enjoy the adventure and learn about women’s lives at the time.