This looks like the beginning of a delicious new spy/crime/mystery series by the veteran literary thriller writer and CWA Dagger Award winner, Mick Herron. The emphasis in Herron’s books is less on kinetics and more on character development. Already he has treated us to classic portraits including the bald and bewigged head of MI5’s Intelligence Service, Dame Ingrid Tearney, and the pale and twitchy successful games producer, Vincent Driscoll. But his main character, Tom Bettany, is one we expect to see again.Where do disaffected British spies go when they leave the service? Thomas Bettany, a.k.a. Martin Boyd, leaves Britain and scuffles around the rougher parts of France where nobody much wants to know anyone’s personal history. Bettany lost his wife to cancer, and suddenly his estranged son turns up dead in London. Bettany had always figured on reconciliation, but that won’t happen now. So, how does a young man die suddenly? Bettany goes to find out and ends up walking smack into folks looking for him.
Mick Herron already has a host of good mysteries to his name, but he has refined his skills with this one. This is fun and involving--a great book for a day of too hot sun or heavy snowfall.
Soho Press is publishing this new series and the earlier Slough House series which included Slow Horses and Dead Lions.
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