Arabesque — Geoffrey Household

In war-torn Lebanon, a beautiful French woman fights a war of spy versus spy

There is no privacy in Beirut. In the hotel lobbies and high-class bars of this beautiful Eastern capital, intelligencers of every stripe hide in plain sight: British spies and Nazi moles, Free French operatives and the lackeys of Vichy France. Stalin has his men here, as do the Zionists who would turn British Palestine into a haven for the Jewish people. There are agents of every race, gender, and nationality -- and they are all at one another's throats. Armande Herne is not one of them -- but she will be soon enough.
 
A French woman raised in England, Armande came to Beirut after her husband joined the navy. When the French army hands the city over to the British, an arms deal draws Armande into the shadowy side of this city of intrigue, taking her on a desert adventure that will change the war -- or leave her dead in the sand.