The Third Woman

The Third Woman (1973) – Jean-Anne de Pre (Sphere)

Another gloriously dog-eared slice of 1970s pulp intrigue. The Third Woman promises all the shadowy espionage, smoky bedrooms, and sudden betrayals you could want from an author whose name you’ve probably never heard of but now absolutely must pretend you always admired.

Somewhere between a spy thriller and a fever dream of tangled loyalties, this book has it all: mysterious women (obviously three of them), Cold War tension, and dialogue that smells faintly of cheap sherry. If Le Carré had been locked in a hotel bar with Harold Robbins, this might have been the result.

This copy: Sphere paperback, 1973. Cover art that screams “cinematic adaptation that never happened.” Pages yellowed to perfection, spine creased like an old map, but still perfectly readable if you squint in the right kind of light.

Buy it for the story, the kitsch value, or just because you can’t resist a book called The Third Woman. We won’t judge.

Keep browsing: See more Thrillers books Other books by Jean-Anne de Pre