My Review (5 stars out of 5) Slough House boss Jackson Lamb travels to Oxford to check what a dead body might be doing on a bus. When the corpse turns out to be former spy Dickie Bow, it sets Lamb wondering if the apparently assassinated spook left some sort of message, something that might…
Category: Spies
‘Killing Eve – Codename Villanelle’ by Luke Jennings
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Russian orphan Oxana has been trained as a ruthless assassin. Controlled by a group known only as The Twelve, her handler, Konstantin, delegates her targets. Meanwhile, MI5 officer Eve Polastri follows the killer’s progress, but an error of judgment leaves Eve out in the cold. Given a shabby…
‘The Spy Across the Water’ by James Naughtie
My Review (4 stars out of 5) The Spy Across the Water is book three in a series of spy stories, and the first I’ve read by this author. The book opens with a funeral, and we soon learn that the dead man is Ambassador Will Flemyng’s brother. Flemyng’s usual working life in the Washington…
‘Slow Horses’ by Mick Herron
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Jackson Lamb rules the roost at Slough House – a dumping ground for spies who messed up. Nicknamed the slow horses, his team deal with the mundane and the boring instead of being out in the field like proper spies. But with the kidnapping of a young Asian…
‘Arsenic at Ascot’ by Kelly Oliver
My Review (4 stars out of 5) This is book four in the Fiona Figg and Kitty Lane Mystery series, and the first I’ve read by this author. Well-known mistress of disguise and wartime spy, Fiona Figg, finds herself shunted around the war office dealing with mundane tasks, rather than getting to grips with espionage…
‘The Riddle of the Sands’ by Erskine Childers
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) First published in 1903, The Riddle of the Sands influenced many spy stories by writers such as John Buchan, Ian Fleming and John le Carre. When civil servant Caruthers is invited on a duck-shooting holiday with his yachting enthusiast pal, Davies, he learns about his friend’s recent…
‘The Looming Tower’ by Lawrence Wright
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Covering more than five decades, The Looming Tower describes the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, the rise of al-Qaeda, and the communication and other failures within the CIA and other agencies that led to the attacks on the World Trade Centre. Lawrence Wright charts the lives and development of…
‘The Clown Service’ by Guy Adams
My Review (5 stars out of 5) When failed agent Toby Greene is transferred to Section 37, he finds his new boss August Shining is the only other official member of the team. As they set off to meet one of Shining’s freelancers, Toby discovers that Section 37 doesn’t deal with ordinary spies. In fact,…
‘The Rift’ by Rachel Lynch
NB This post first appeared as part of the Blog Tour for ‘The Rift’ via Emma at Damppebbles. My Review (5 stars out of 5) Royal Military Police Major Helen Scott is posted to Paris to oversee security arrangements for a political summit, but when the son of an oil magnate is kidnapped, she finds…
‘Die Every Day’ by Gordon Bickerstaff
Die Every Day When Gavin Shawlens finds himself on a murder charge, he admits he’s to blame. With all the evidence pointing directly at him, it seems the only option is to plead guilty. But if he goes the other way, the consequences for the Government could be catastrophic, so to ensure Gavin doesn’t escape…
Colin Garrow 