The hunt for an assassin, an internal scandal, and a leader losing a step…

The Head of British Intelligence is having a bad day. Only six months off retirement and Sir William Rentoul is wondering if he’ll make it that far, what with the sudden descent of a brain fog dense enough to turn every day into a series of small humiliations.

To make matters worse, when parliamentary researcher Aphra McQueen is brought in to investigate an internal complaint, she discovers something horrifying: the murder of nine Iranian dissidents. The elusive assassin, nicknamed CASPIAN, kills across borders, forcing intelligence services throughout Europe into an alliance. Their only lead? An unsuspecting dentist in the UK.

Aphra McQueen seems to know more about the operation than she is letting on. What will she uncover? What is she really up to? And can she survive the unexpected events that will bounce her from London to Birmingham to Paris to Lausanne?

What happens when the head of British Intelligence starts to lose a step? This is in many ways the linchpin upon which the novel hangs, and offers some very interesting opportunities. A complaint issued by an anonymous whistleblower has put British Intelligence’s leadership on edge, launching an unwelcome and uncomfortable investigation into certain recent missions. What follows is a cat-and-mouse hunt for the truth and an assassin. Despite some minor quibbles regarding pacing, I enjoyed this.
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