Vaseem Khan has a licence to thrill in this new James Bond-inspired mystery series.
Major Boothroyd (Q) has left British Intelligence and is living in Wickstone-on-Water. He turns sleuth to investigate the death of his childhood friend Peter Napier, a quantum computer scientist. Was his death an accident or murder? Q hopes that the coded message left by Peter will hold the answer.
You don't have to be a James Bond fan to enjoy this pacy thriller. It will appeal to readers who like a different take on the classic whodunnit. with believable characters and writing full of wit and humour.
Khan is on top form here. I look forward to reading more in this series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Quantum of Menace has a really difficult needle to thread in taking a supporting character in the James Bond series and fleshing him out in a way that appeals to both fans of the novels, and of the movies, while also working in a contemporary setting... it feels almost like an impossible mission (to reference another long running spy franchise), but thankfully Vaseem Khan is more than up to the task.

His Q is older, recently retired, and trying to live a quiet life away from the changing world of MI6 and a world of spycraft that increasingly feels alien to him, especially when a new M has manipulated the situation so that M had no real choice but to retire, and a new Q seems more interested in schmoozing that quiet developing technology for use in the field.

But when an old friend apparently commits suicide, Q soon realises there is more to the death than anyone else can see. Soon he's mixed up with the police, a group of gangsters in an intergenerational struggle, and the threat posed by quantum computers... can Q find the terrible truth his friend had tried to warn him of? Will he be able to survive on his own and without the support of his colleagues? And will the lessons he learned over the years from Commander Bond be of any use to him?

What could easily be a spoof or pastiche quickly becomes very much its own thing, with Khan deploying a light touch of humour while also refusing to descend into a kind of parody of the Bond books -- for Q, this is a serious mystery with high personal stakes, and the result is a story that resonates on a far deeper emotional level than you might expect, especially as we learn about Q's relationship with his father, and get a deeper dive into the personal politics of MI6.

But there's humour, too. His "Honeypenny" home assistant provides a few chuckles, and Bastard the dog gives us unexpected emotional resonance at points while also raising a few smiles here and there. And then there's his view of Commander Bond and his unorthodox approach to spycraft that acknowledges the relationships as seen in the movie versions. giving us something between Desmond Lllewelyn's avuncular approach and Ben Wishaw's more wired, geeky, eager to please interpretation.

The needle is truly threaded by Khan, and the result is an unexpectedly original take on a character we think we know, placing him in an unfamiliar setting and exploring previously unseen facets of his character while remaining true to what we (think) we already understand.

In other words, for both Bond fans and new readers, Quantum of Menace is a book that's going to give you sheer joy from the opening pages to the final confrontation. Here's hoping that Q will return...

What a cracking read. I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this new Q Mysteries Series featuring Q (Major Boothroyd) following his rather unseemly departure from MI6. Don’t expect a James Bond style spy thriller or a carbon copy of the Q you see in the films, this is more of a crime drama, and a very entertaining one at that. Easy reading, apart from some of the quantum physics, which even though explained for a layman still went over my science adverse head! What I love is that we are now finding out so much more about this important and unique character in James Bond world than just “now pay attention 007”.

Briefly, when Q hears that his friend Peter Napier has died and he then receives a cryptic note from him Q is convinced that, despite the verdict of misadventure, his friend was murdered. Returning to his home town of Wickstone-on-Water, where Napier had been working at Napier Labs developing next generation quantum computing, Q begins to investigate and soon runs head first into his past!

There’s plenty going on to keep you on your toes from Albanian crime gangs to long lost loves and an estranged parent, the latter who has inherited a depressed dog called Bastard! Q has a few of his MI6 inventions to fall back on and it’s great to see James Bond himself in action. A good entertaining thriller with plenty for die hard Bond fans as well as well as crime aficionados. Very enjoyable read. Bring on book 2.