In June 1952 a woman was murdered by an obsessive colleague in a hotel in South Kensington. Her name was Christine Granville. That she died young was perhaps unsurprising but that she had survived the Second World War was remarkable. The daughter of a feckless Polish aristocratic & his wealthy Jewish wife she would become one of Britain's most daring & highly decorated secret agents. Having fled Poland on the outbreak of war she was recruited by the intelligence services long before the establishment of the SOE & took on mission after mission. She skied over the hazardous High Tatras into Poland served in Egypt & North Africa & was later parachuted into Occupied France where an agent's life expectancy was only six weeks. Her courage quick wit & determination won her release from arrest more than once & saved the lives of several fellow officers including one of her many lovers just hours before their execution by the Gestapo. More importantly perhaps the intelligence she gathered was a significant contribution to the Allied war effort & her success was reflected in the fact that she was awarded the George Medal the OBE & the Croix de Guerre.