Russian defectors are dying and only Charles Thoroughgood can make it stop
'He saw Cleaner Bob arrive that morning, the morning of his death.'
In the peaceful towns and villages of England, Cleaner Bob is washing windows, and people are dying in sudden and unexpected circumstances. When it becomes clear that the victims have a common history as Russian defectors, foul play is suspected and a hunt begins to locate their assailant, the lethal poison that killed them, and the mole who is leaking their locations.
In a race against time, only one man has the connections and experience to crack the case before more people perish. Charles Thoroughgood, former head of MI6, is enjoying retirement in the Oxfordshire hamlet he calls home when the call comes in. A man of duty, he agrees to take part in a mission that will lead him into the heart of enemy territory and threaten to undermine the very values he holds most dear.
Tense, engrossing and terrifyingly believable, the latest Charles Thoroughgood novel is a timely and brilliant reminder that Alan Judd is a master of the spy thriller and a writer of the very highest quality.
Alan Judd is the author of two biographies and seventeen novels, three of which have been filmed. He has won the Guardian Fiction award, the Heinemann award and the Royal Society of Literature's Winifred Holtby award. His novels include the Charles Thoroughgood spy series and A Fine Madness, featuring the life and death of Christopher Marlowe, poet, playwright and spy. He also wrote The Quest for C, the authorized biography of Mansfield Cumming, founder of MI6, for which he was granted access to Cumming's diary. He has reviewed widely and has been a regular columnist for the Telegraph, the Spectator and the Oldie. He is an Honorary Fellow of Keble College, Oxford, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
