Manning Coles was the joint pen name used by British writers and neighbors Cyril Henry Coles (1899-1965) and Adelaide Frances Oke Manning (1891-1959). Between 1940 and 1958 they produced more than 20 lively spy stories featuring Thomas Elphinstone (Tommy) Hambledon, who worked for British Intelligence. Both authors had some background upon which to base their stories: Coles was an intelligence officer in WWI and Manning worked at the War Office during WWI.
The Classic Crime Fiction website notes the duo also produced five mysteries under the pseudonym Francis Gaite during the 1950s. Published by Hodder, the series characters for these books were Charles and James Latimer.
The third book in the Hambledon series They Tell No Tales (Hodder, 1941) opens on New Year’s Eve 1938 in Hampshire, where Hambledon and his colleague Reck have taken a small house after returning from undercover work in Germany. They are to go to Portsmouth that evening to interview a ships fitter who claims knowledge of the recent explosions that have been destroying key vessels among the English fleet. After the Munich agreement with Hitler the previous autumn, England lost no time in building up its defenses and these ships were greatly needed.
Hambledon has been assigned an inexperienced intelligence officer named James Bellair who will accompany him to a popular restaurant to introduce the mechanic. The mechanic arrives late during the spirited year-end celebrations but he is shot from the street as he enters the building before he can talk to anyone. The ensuing investigation requires close collaboration between Hambledon and the town police, who are aware of the intelligence officers in their midst and don’t object.
This is a briskly told tale of espionage and murder with a nice mix of traditional detection and spy tradecraft. Hambledon is an old hand at the game and his coworker Reck is downright cynical. Bellair on the other hand makes some classic beginner mistakes and is lucky more experienced hands are around to bail him out of trouble. The trio spend a lot of time with the locals, trying to find the source of the explosives and the people setting them. Bellair in particular squires some of the young ladies of the town around in an attempt to blend in, which causes unforeseen ructions.
Bits of unexpected wit leaven the seriousness of the story and Tommy himself is modeled after the self-deprecating upper class detective a la Wimsey and Campion, inconsequential on the surface but steel underneath. A quite readable period piece with a not easy to guess solution.
The earlier books in the series have been reprinted multiple times and are easier to find on the secondary market than the later titles, but they all seem to be readily available.