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The Red in the Wrong Profession follows a widowed history teacher and his 12-year-old daughter who, at the local bookstore, discover a coded message tucked inside a classic novel, leading them to a possible espionage plot. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I had learned that spies left messages in some rather unusual places, back before there was an Internet and electronic ways to communicate with their handlers or with other spies. It intrigued me no end! So I thought it would be fun for my readers to have a bookstore used as a “spy drop.” Hey, Internet or no, it could still happen…
Spencer is a history teacher who ends up living inside history. How did you think about that irony while writing him?
I had a feeling someone like Spencer, who is an honorable character, even though he’s got a wicked sense of humor about the spy, Zinnia, would just love it if he became a part of history. Suddenly he’s no longer teaching about the Cold War – he’s living it, and in the best way possible, by involving his brother who just happens to be in the FBI.
Preston straddles family loyalty and professional duty. What interested you most about that tension?
There are some things that Preston is prohibited from revealing, even to his family members. And he doesn’t like that, but what can he do? I think he does a terrific job of informing his brother and niece as far as he possibly can as the three of them work together to resolve what they found out was happening regarding the spy in their midst.
The novel shows how misinformation and rumors spread through casual conversation. Was that a deliberate parallel to espionage?
It was more like I was trying to show who could and couldn’t be trusted. Quite a few characters aren’t what they appear to be. There’s certainly a lot of suspicion going on in that little town in Virginia where the story is set!
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As Preston races to decipher the message, he finds himself caught between loyalty, secrecy, and a ruthless enemy determined to unearth America’s most guarded innovations. What begins as a child’s accidental discovery soon escalates into a perilous hunt across the capital, where every page turned could expose a new betrayal.
The question isn’t just whether Preston can stop the spies—it’s whether he can do so before the next secret falls into Soviet hands, changing the course of the Cold War forever.
The Red In The Wrong Profession
When I first opened The Red in the Wrong Profession, I thought I was in for a fairly straightforward piece of Cold War spy fiction. What I got instead was a lively blend of small-town drama, suspicion, and the slow unspooling of secrets hiding in plain sight. The story follows widowed history teacher Spencer and his sharp, curious twelve-year-old daughter, Cecily, as they stumble into a possible espionage plot involving Spencer’s glamorous colleague, Zinnia Tepper. One hidden coded note in a used bookstore sets off a string of unsettling discoveries, drawing Spencer’s FBI-agent brother Preston into a mystery that settles uneasily over the quiet suburb of Halliwell, Virginia.
I liked how the author leans into the ordinary. The setting feels familiar. A bookstore. A cul-de-sac. After-school gossip. The tension grows not because of high-tech spy tricks but because these characters live close together and know each other a little too well. I found myself unexpectedly drawn in by the rhythms of their daily lives. Quinn writes in a way that lets you feel Spencer’s discomfort and Cecily’s excitement without making either of them larger than life. Even Zinnia, who seems over-the-top at first with her dramatic entrances and designer shopping bags, becomes more intriguing each time the facade slips. I liked the way the book let suspicion creep in through small, almost mundane moments.
I also appreciated the choices the author made in shaping the Cold War atmosphere. Instead of drowning the reader in jargon or long political explanations, the book lets the fear and confusion of the era filter through conversations and tiny observations. Characters talk about the Soviets the way people really talk: half-informed, emotional, and sometimes a little dramatic. The coded note Cecily finds becomes a symbol of how fragile normal life can feel when you start wondering who you can trust. I enjoyed that the story didn’t lean too hard into action or spectacle. It stayed grounded, almost domestic, which somehow made the spy elements feel more believable. At times, I wished for a deeper exploration of Zinnia’s inner world, but maybe her opacity is part of the point. Spies, suspected or real, rarely let you all the way in.
By the time I finished the book, I realized it works best for readers who enjoy character-driven suspense with a nostalgic touch. It’s spy fiction, but filtered through the lens of family, community, and the messy edges of intuition. If you’re someone who likes mysteries that build slowly, or stories where a simple moment at a bookstore can set off a chain reaction, you’ll enjoy this novel.
Pages: 200 | ASIN : B0GF76DCW3
