The Spy in Black (novel)

The Spy in Black is a 1917 spy thriller novel by the British writer J. Storer Clouston. It takes place near Scapa Flow in Orkney during the First World War. It was one of several thrillers he wrote along with The Man from the Clouds and Beastmark the Spy.

Synopsis
German U-boat officer Lieutenant Conrad Von Belke travels to Scotland as part of a plot to gain intelligence for an attack on the Royal Navy fleet as it leaves its anchor. He encounters a local minister and a British naval officer prepared to betray his country. Too late, Von Belke realises he has been part of an elaborate British deception operation to lure U-boats out to sink them.

Film adaptation
In 1939 it was made into the British film of the same title directed by Michael Powell and starring Conrad Veidt, Valerie Hobson and Sebastian Shaw.