But for Senior MI6 officer Kate Henderson, nothing is ever that simple… Kidnapped in Venice by a Russian defector, Kate knows she’s in trouble. He never meanders, never wastes time, which allows the story and characters to flow naturally with good pace. Though he isn't present in every scene, he conveys each piece of the story leading up to the murder as if he were an omniscient narrator, capable of accessing every character's interior perspective.

Double Agent is his follow up to the highly addictive and intelligent international spy thriller, Secret Service, although it could be read as a stand-alone. In exchange he offers Kate conclusive evidence to prove the identity of a live Russian agent at the very heart of the British Government. In many ways this was like a ‘tying up loose ends’ from the previous book and was good to be back with Senior MI6’s Kate and the gang as they once again tried to unravel fact from fiction as to whether the PM was indeed a Russian spy! I hope it is a little more tightly focussed, though, and branches out from the slightly samey structure of the first two.

I read the first book Secret Service and enjoyed the relationship between our main protagonist Kate, her husband Stuart, his affair with Imogen who wants to be the next PM and Julie who is sleeping with the odious Ian who wants to be the head of MI6.

When we start Stuart has been exiled to Russia, having been discovered to be the Russian agent Viper. Kate Henderson, employed by British intelligence, is kidnapped by a potential Russian defector whilst on holiday in Venice. Such are her management skills that she deals with the most disconcerting events with insouciance, which perhaps detracts from the excitement one might expect. I'd recommend you read Secret Service first as both are so good, you wouldn't want to miss out on the background to characters and their history as could be a little difficult to understand the plot if you don't. Kate’s deterioration adds a good deal of tension to the story and the ending has a nice touch of cynicism to it.The deal on the table: arrange for the safe passage of the defector and his family in exchange for proof that the British Prime Minister is an agent for the Russians.