Miembroafurst

Again, 30s and 40s--so Eric Ambler and Graham Greene. All of Orwell, much Evelyn Waugh, Isaac Bashevis Singer, selected Hemingway, George McDonald Fraser's wonderful Flashman series, Isaac Babel, Bulgakov, Gregor von Rezzori, absolutely all of the British comic novelist Anthony Powell.
And a really good cookbook.

I'm a novelist, writing about Europe in the 1930's and 40s,
with European lead and minor characters. These are essen-
tially historical spy novels, in the period when war is now
inevitable, sophisticated, authentic, erotic and suspenseful. They include NIGHT SOLDIERS, DARK STAR, THE POLISH OFFICER, THE WORLD AT NIGHT, RED GOLD, KINGDOM OF SHADOWS, BLOOD OF VICTORY, DARK VOYAGE, THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, and THE SPIES OF WARSAW. They've been translated into 17 languages, available from Random House in Trade Paperback, also available in audio and as downloads.