Another outing for Felicity who proves the point that retired spies never leave the service !
This book picks up just after the previous one finishes- Felicity is recovering from her ordeal at home and goes out to to tea with her neighbour. Percy. When there is an attempt on her life at the cafe, Percy rushes her to a safe house in London where Matthew, a former colleague tasks her with helping to reveal a traitor in the service, aided by some other former spies including her friend, Ambrose.
I liked the flashbacks to when Felicity was a young agent in Greece- it was interesting to see how she learnt her trade. I loved the humour inherent in the novel- Felicity’s sarcasm and self deprecation is very amusing, serving to lighten the tension.
Her relationship with her son, Bernard, the cabinet Minister, was explored in this book and I really enjoyed seeing the interactions between the two of them. Despite her failings as an absent mother she still has a good bond with him and he turns to her when he has a problem.
There have been a plethora of of “retired spy” novels as well as elderly detective ones- think Richard Osman but Mark Ezra’s books are full of the humour that the others don’t necessarily have, He has really perfected the voice of Felicity - she’s definitely someone I’d like to meet again in a further novel.
I highly recommend this book and its predecessor “A Sting in her Tale”.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.