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Farewell Dinner for a Spy: A Telegraph Crime Thriller of the Year
"A compelling slice of mid-century espionage that expertly blends history with possibility. All comparisons that will inevitably be made with le Carré are entirely apt" Tim Glister
'Edward Wilson seems poised to inherit the mantle of John le Carré' Irish Independent
1949: William Catesby returns to London in disgrace, accused of murdering a 'double-dipper' the Americans believed to be one of their own. His left-wing sympathies have him singled out as a traitor.
Henry Bone throws him a lifeline, sending him to Marseille, ostensibly to report on dockers' strikes and keep tabs on the errant wife of a British diplomat. But there's a catch. For his cover story, he's demobbed from the service and tricked out as a writer researching a book on the Resistance.
In Marseille, Catesby is caught in a deadly vice between the CIA and the mafia, who are colluding to fuel the war in Indochina. Swept eastwards to Laos himself, he remains uncertain of the true purpose behind his mission, though he has his Bone has murder on his mind, and the target is a former comrade from Catesby's SOE days. The question is, which one.
'Edward Wilson seems poised to inherit the mantle of John le Carré' Irish Independent
1949: William Catesby returns to London in disgrace, accused of murdering a 'double-dipper' the Americans believed to be one of their own. His left-wing sympathies have him singled out as a traitor.
Henry Bone throws him a lifeline, sending him to Marseille, ostensibly to report on dockers' strikes and keep tabs on the errant wife of a British diplomat. But there's a catch. For his cover story, he's demobbed from the service and tricked out as a writer researching a book on the Resistance.
In Marseille, Catesby is caught in a deadly vice between the CIA and the mafia, who are colluding to fuel the war in Indochina. Swept eastwards to Laos himself, he remains uncertain of the true purpose behind his mission, though he has his Bone has murder on his mind, and the target is a former comrade from Catesby's SOE days. The question is, which one.
415 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 18, 2024
30 people are currently reading
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About the author
Edward Wilson
121 books58 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Edward Wilson served in Vietnam as an officer in the 5th Special Forces. His decorations include the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal for Valor. Soon after leaving the army, Wilson became a permanent expatriate in the UK in 1974. He formally lost US nationality in 1986. Edward Wilson is a British citizen, but has also lived and worked in Germany and France.
Edward Wilson served in Vietnam as an officer in the 5th Special Forces. His decorations include the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal for Valor. Soon after leaving the army, Wilson became a permanent expatriate in the UK in 1974. He formally lost US nationality in 1986. Edward Wilson is a British citizen, but has also lived and worked in Germany and France.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 21, 2024
I thank the publisher and NetGalley for an advance review copy of this book. I have really enjoyed all the Catesby books to date. I like the character and I enjoy the linkages to real life events. But I was a little disappointed in this one and think the author may have run out of steam. It starts well and the flashbacks to Catesby's time in France during WW2 are interesting, then the more modern day section in Marseilles and environs is OK, but as soon as it starts withe the drug running I felt it lost its way and I was no longer gripped. I awarded it 3.6 stars on my own system, the lowest so far in the series. It will still appeal to fans of the series but would not be a good entry point for newcomers.
March 18, 2025
Farewell Dinner for a Spy was an utter delight to read. It was so nice to be able to renew my acquaintance with William Catesby, SIS agent, polyglot, connoisseur, and World War II combat veteran.
The novel begins in the summer of 1949. Catesby has been falsely accused of being a double agent and is recalled to England by the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service - aka MI6). There he is given two choices: (1) to resign or (2) to take on a special assignment for the SIS in Marseille, France and clear his name. Catesby opts for the latter and for the better part of a year, finds himself knee deep in intrigue, war, passion, drug trafficking, close calls, and brushes with elements of the mafia. During that time, he renews connections with an American wartime comrade (now serving as a zealous anti-communist CIA officer with ties to the mafia in Marseille and the ongoing drug trade operations running from Marseille to Indochina) and a shifty, duplicitous Frenchman (Henri Déricourt) whom Catesby knew during his time with the SOE (Special Operations Executive) during the war. (By the way, Henri Déricourt (1909-1962) was a real life character who, as a trained pilot, helped set up for the SOE fields in German-occupied France where spies could be stealthily flown in by night from the UK. It is also likely that he acted as a double agent, selling out some SOE agents to the Germans.)
There are also some time shifts in the novel, which shed light on Catesby's later years back in the UK.
William Catesby is such an utterly remarkable and fascinating figure. One of the best I think out of any spy series I've yet read. Which makes it hard to have to leave him because I've now read every novel in the Catesby series. At some point, I would like to reconnect with him.
The novel begins in the summer of 1949. Catesby has been falsely accused of being a double agent and is recalled to England by the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service - aka MI6). There he is given two choices: (1) to resign or (2) to take on a special assignment for the SIS in Marseille, France and clear his name. Catesby opts for the latter and for the better part of a year, finds himself knee deep in intrigue, war, passion, drug trafficking, close calls, and brushes with elements of the mafia. During that time, he renews connections with an American wartime comrade (now serving as a zealous anti-communist CIA officer with ties to the mafia in Marseille and the ongoing drug trade operations running from Marseille to Indochina) and a shifty, duplicitous Frenchman (Henri Déricourt) whom Catesby knew during his time with the SOE (Special Operations Executive) during the war. (By the way, Henri Déricourt (1909-1962) was a real life character who, as a trained pilot, helped set up for the SOE fields in German-occupied France where spies could be stealthily flown in by night from the UK. It is also likely that he acted as a double agent, selling out some SOE agents to the Germans.)
There are also some time shifts in the novel, which shed light on Catesby's later years back in the UK.
William Catesby is such an utterly remarkable and fascinating figure. One of the best I think out of any spy series I've yet read. Which makes it hard to have to leave him because I've now read every novel in the Catesby series. At some point, I would like to reconnect with him.
May 29, 2025
British spy William Catesby goes undercover in Marseille amid labor agitators, Communists, mobsters, drug smugglers and of course spies.
The Americans are, as always, the bad guys in Catesby's world.
Lester Roach is about as bwa-ha-ha a character as we've met here. No Nazi was worse. And the Communists are, as always, portrayed sympathetically. Hey, heroic workers striking for their rights and singing The Internationale. Makes you feel good. That's who Communists are, right?
In 1949, the left-leaning Catesby, who ran unsuccessfully for Parliament as a Labour candidate, finds himself suspected as a Communist by the Americans. He's probably been thrown under the bus by Kim Philby to draw suspicion away from himself.
Be that as it may, Catesby's boss Henry Bone comes up with a ploy.
The Service will fake firing Catesby. He'll go to Marseille, purportedly to research a book about the French Resistance, with which Catesby worked during the war.
He'll get close to Communist dock workers and spy on them. They're blocking French shipments of weapons to Indochina, where France is trying to fight off the Communist Viet Minh insurgency.
Meanwhile Catesby can keep an eye on a couple of people: the dissolute wife of an English consul, who will help Catesby discreetly communicate with Bone but has questionable associations; and CIA station chief Lester Roach.
Roach represents everything loathsome. He's vulgar. Violent. Crass. Has too much CIA money to throw around. He hates Communists. (Why would any right-thinking person do that?)
And with them on the rise in postwar Europe, he'll do anything to stop them. Like use the local Mafia. Politics make strange bedfellows.
He's rotten enough, though, that even the Mafia doesn't trust him.
Roach also links to the burgeoning heroin trade. Heroin usage in England is five times what it was a few years before. The CIA, in league with the Mafia—and, to be fair, the Laotian royal family and many others movers and shakers—pushes smack for money to help fight the Communists. This is the beginning of the French Connection.
When Catesby finally goes there, we'll get a sympathetic portrayal of the Hmong, for whom opium is the only source of income, growing as it does on land where nothing else seems to. Like Afghanistan, I gathered. It's also a fascinating glimpse into a corner of Indochina I don't know much about.
Catesby also realizes Bone, without wanting to say it explicitly, needs him to be an assassin.
The Americans are, as always, the bad guys in Catesby's world.
Lester Roach is about as bwa-ha-ha a character as we've met here. No Nazi was worse. And the Communists are, as always, portrayed sympathetically. Hey, heroic workers striking for their rights and singing The Internationale. Makes you feel good. That's who Communists are, right?
In 1949, the left-leaning Catesby, who ran unsuccessfully for Parliament as a Labour candidate, finds himself suspected as a Communist by the Americans. He's probably been thrown under the bus by Kim Philby to draw suspicion away from himself.
Be that as it may, Catesby's boss Henry Bone comes up with a ploy.
The Service will fake firing Catesby. He'll go to Marseille, purportedly to research a book about the French Resistance, with which Catesby worked during the war.
He'll get close to Communist dock workers and spy on them. They're blocking French shipments of weapons to Indochina, where France is trying to fight off the Communist Viet Minh insurgency.
Meanwhile Catesby can keep an eye on a couple of people: the dissolute wife of an English consul, who will help Catesby discreetly communicate with Bone but has questionable associations; and CIA station chief Lester Roach.
Roach represents everything loathsome. He's vulgar. Violent. Crass. Has too much CIA money to throw around. He hates Communists. (Why would any right-thinking person do that?)
And with them on the rise in postwar Europe, he'll do anything to stop them. Like use the local Mafia. Politics make strange bedfellows.
He's rotten enough, though, that even the Mafia doesn't trust him.
Roach also links to the burgeoning heroin trade. Heroin usage in England is five times what it was a few years before. The CIA, in league with the Mafia—and, to be fair, the Laotian royal family and many others movers and shakers—pushes smack for money to help fight the Communists. This is the beginning of the French Connection.
When Catesby finally goes there, we'll get a sympathetic portrayal of the Hmong, for whom opium is the only source of income, growing as it does on land where nothing else seems to. Like Afghanistan, I gathered. It's also a fascinating glimpse into a corner of Indochina I don't know much about.
Catesby also realizes Bone, without wanting to say it explicitly, needs him to be an assassin.
December 22, 2025
This novel follows Portrait of the Spy as a Young Man and can be seen as its chronological sequel. Like its predecessor, it alternates between brief sections set in 2018, where Catesby recounts episodes from his past to his granddaughter, and the main narrative set in 1949–50.
Postwar Britain, Marseille’s gangster underworld and its CIA connections, and Southeast Asian conflicts provide vivid historical backdrops. Several shadowy figures from the previous book reappear here in larger roles, and real historical events are woven seamlessly into the plot, blurring the line between history and fiction. As before, Catesby is portrayed as a young operative who has not yet grown into the influential figure seen in later-set novels, often seeming almost expendable.
Several sections stand out. The opening chapter in a Marseille restaurant is shockingly graphic and disturbingly believable, perhaps subtly hinting at the novel’s title. Early London and brief Berlin scenes preserve the “wilderness of mirrors” atmosphere of the first book. Philby’s manipulation in Berlin raises questions about Catesby’s own loyalty, and their tense interactions may continue in the next novel. Meanwhile, SIS director Henry Bone exploits Catesby’s uncertainty to send him on a covert mission in Marseille, where he acts both as a “dangle” and an infiltrator monitoring communist dockworker strikes affecting shipments to Indochina.
A meeting between Lester Roach and Kit Fournier sheds light on American operations in Marseille, highlighting differing agendas and Kit’s ongoing struggles with prior events. Later, Catesby’s encounter with Henry Dericourt, a slippery figure from the previous novel, adds intrigue through a duel of half-truths and evasions. While multi-period storytelling sometimes creates small inconsistencies—such as a discrepancy in Catesby’s 1950 encounter with Henry—these do little to diminish the book’s impact.
Returning to London, Catesby’s dangle strategy bears fruit as Dexter recruits him to support Henry’s Asian flights, revealing the contrasting agendas of the two men. The East Asia sections are reminiscent of Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, with vivid detail that occasionally reads almost like a documentary.
The ending is full of surprises, continually revealing new layers just when the reader thinks all is resolved. With A French Deception scheduled for May 2026, some storylines and characters may yet continue, leaving plenty to anticipate.
Postwar Britain, Marseille’s gangster underworld and its CIA connections, and Southeast Asian conflicts provide vivid historical backdrops. Several shadowy figures from the previous book reappear here in larger roles, and real historical events are woven seamlessly into the plot, blurring the line between history and fiction. As before, Catesby is portrayed as a young operative who has not yet grown into the influential figure seen in later-set novels, often seeming almost expendable.
Several sections stand out. The opening chapter in a Marseille restaurant is shockingly graphic and disturbingly believable, perhaps subtly hinting at the novel’s title. Early London and brief Berlin scenes preserve the “wilderness of mirrors” atmosphere of the first book. Philby’s manipulation in Berlin raises questions about Catesby’s own loyalty, and their tense interactions may continue in the next novel. Meanwhile, SIS director Henry Bone exploits Catesby’s uncertainty to send him on a covert mission in Marseille, where he acts both as a “dangle” and an infiltrator monitoring communist dockworker strikes affecting shipments to Indochina.
A meeting between Lester Roach and Kit Fournier sheds light on American operations in Marseille, highlighting differing agendas and Kit’s ongoing struggles with prior events. Later, Catesby’s encounter with Henry Dericourt, a slippery figure from the previous novel, adds intrigue through a duel of half-truths and evasions. While multi-period storytelling sometimes creates small inconsistencies—such as a discrepancy in Catesby’s 1950 encounter with Henry—these do little to diminish the book’s impact.
Returning to London, Catesby’s dangle strategy bears fruit as Dexter recruits him to support Henry’s Asian flights, revealing the contrasting agendas of the two men. The East Asia sections are reminiscent of Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, with vivid detail that occasionally reads almost like a documentary.
The ending is full of surprises, continually revealing new layers just when the reader thinks all is resolved. With A French Deception scheduled for May 2026, some storylines and characters may yet continue, leaving plenty to anticipate.
June 28, 2024
Spy thriller set in MARSEILLE and LAOS
The book opens with a human head being lifted from a steaming cauldron of bouillabaisse in a Marseille restaurant frequented by the mafia. The rest of the story tells us how it got there… William Catesby, an English spy who ‘disgraced’ himself in post WW2 Germany, is given the ‘choice’ of going to to Marseille to restore his credibility and to help in a top secret assignment. Deniability by the UK Government is total. Marseille is in turmoil. The communist dockers’ union is taking on the police and strikebreakers have been bussed in. The police and strikebreakers are supported by the local mafia. There is much violence on the streets.
There are also rumours of a mafia drug trade and the possible involvement of the CIA in that trade. Unlikely bedfellows. William’s brief is to find out exactly what is going on. His investigations take him back to WW2 and the Resistance – and to people he knew then in different roles. A couple of the key ones are now very active in Marseille. He discovers an operation to fly opium in from Laos to Marseille by devious routes (in those days a small plane needed to refuel at least four times en route…). The business is up and running, and William (deeply undercover) goes on one of the trips to tribal lands in the north of Laos where opium is the only cash crop that keeps the farmers alive. There is much local communist inspired unrest. The Laotian royal family are involved.
There is bad feeling and betrayal between one of the drug runners and the mafia. Someone got a bit greedy. It doesn’t end nicely.
Farewell Dinner for a Spy has a ring of believability about it. Certainly there were some connections between the CIA and the South East Asian drug trade. And the references to Kim Philby and Guy Burgess add context to the plot. The plot and the characters are well constructed even if sometimes a little larger than life.
Edward Wilson has been hailed in one review as being ‘poised to inherit the mantle of John le Carré‘. That, I think is an exaggeration – but this book is certainly a pretty good spy thriller. And definitely more George Smiley than James Bond.
The book opens with a human head being lifted from a steaming cauldron of bouillabaisse in a Marseille restaurant frequented by the mafia. The rest of the story tells us how it got there… William Catesby, an English spy who ‘disgraced’ himself in post WW2 Germany, is given the ‘choice’ of going to to Marseille to restore his credibility and to help in a top secret assignment. Deniability by the UK Government is total. Marseille is in turmoil. The communist dockers’ union is taking on the police and strikebreakers have been bussed in. The police and strikebreakers are supported by the local mafia. There is much violence on the streets.
There are also rumours of a mafia drug trade and the possible involvement of the CIA in that trade. Unlikely bedfellows. William’s brief is to find out exactly what is going on. His investigations take him back to WW2 and the Resistance – and to people he knew then in different roles. A couple of the key ones are now very active in Marseille. He discovers an operation to fly opium in from Laos to Marseille by devious routes (in those days a small plane needed to refuel at least four times en route…). The business is up and running, and William (deeply undercover) goes on one of the trips to tribal lands in the north of Laos where opium is the only cash crop that keeps the farmers alive. There is much local communist inspired unrest. The Laotian royal family are involved.
There is bad feeling and betrayal between one of the drug runners and the mafia. Someone got a bit greedy. It doesn’t end nicely.
Farewell Dinner for a Spy has a ring of believability about it. Certainly there were some connections between the CIA and the South East Asian drug trade. And the references to Kim Philby and Guy Burgess add context to the plot. The plot and the characters are well constructed even if sometimes a little larger than life.
Edward Wilson has been hailed in one review as being ‘poised to inherit the mantle of John le Carré‘. That, I think is an exaggeration – but this book is certainly a pretty good spy thriller. And definitely more George Smiley than James Bond.
March 7, 2025
With his latest novel Edward Wilson continues the work of building the William Catesby character, to whom he has dedicated all his most popular books
The author has succeeded in making Catesby a very compelling character: an atypical intelligence officer, alien to the old-boys club that was the SIS, of left-wing leanings in a totally conservative environment, cynical but not without his own ethics.
Fairwell Dinner can be considered a direct sequel of its predecessor (Portrait of a Spy) where Catesby acts as an SOE officer in occupied France alongside the Resistance during WWII. Here we are in the immediate post-war and Catesby is sent into a shady undercover mission in Marseille where he will find old friends and enemies as well as many ghosts of the past.
The plot is quite complex and multi-layered, entwining local politics and the war in Indochina, inroads of the soon-to-be Cambridge Five and the hovering presence of the CIA with its vicious intrigues with the French, Corsican and Italiano mafias for the control of opium smuggling routes.ems forllow him there
PS Edward Wilson is an American veteran who fought in Vietnam; in 1983 he renounced his US citizenship and in his books he's merciless with his former home country. I thought with particular good reason in this book.
The author has succeeded in making Catesby a very compelling character: an atypical intelligence officer, alien to the old-boys club that was the SIS, of left-wing leanings in a totally conservative environment, cynical but not without his own ethics.
Fairwell Dinner can be considered a direct sequel of its predecessor (Portrait of a Spy) where Catesby acts as an SOE officer in occupied France alongside the Resistance during WWII. Here we are in the immediate post-war and Catesby is sent into a shady undercover mission in Marseille where he will find old friends and enemies as well as many ghosts of the past.
The plot is quite complex and multi-layered, entwining local politics and the war in Indochina, inroads of the soon-to-be Cambridge Five and the hovering presence of the CIA with its vicious intrigues with the French, Corsican and Italiano mafias for the control of opium smuggling routes.ems forllow him there
PS Edward Wilson is an American veteran who fought in Vietnam; in 1983 he renounced his US citizenship and in his books he's merciless with his former home country. I thought with particular good reason in this book.
May 18, 2025
Although this may be sacrilege to some I believe Edward Wilson merits being alongside John Le Carre as an author of espionage thrillers. His are of an even darker hue and this latest adventure for Catesby is no exception. The tone is set early on when a most macabre event happens at what is meant to be a convivial event, well if you consider a mafia get together as that.....sleeping with the fishes springs to mind.
Largely set in Marseille, though, air miles are accrued for trips to Laos, it is based round the Marseille dockers strikes of 1949 when they downed tools and saved their muscles not for lifting weaponry and military vehicles onto ships but for battles with the police and scabs as they resented helping what they saw was the colonialists fight with Ho Chi Minh's freedom fighters in Indochina.
Further than that I will not go so as to maintain the suspense. However, this is a terrific read blending real life characters from the intriguing Vera Atkins to the vile Henri Dericourt with fictional ones such as Henry Bone, Catesby Kim Fournier -- who is the principal character in Wilson's other work -- the larger than life Lester Roach, Serge the Buchenwald survivor and artist along with his wife Huong.
This cracks along at a lively pace and is a must read.
Largely set in Marseille, though, air miles are accrued for trips to Laos, it is based round the Marseille dockers strikes of 1949 when they downed tools and saved their muscles not for lifting weaponry and military vehicles onto ships but for battles with the police and scabs as they resented helping what they saw was the colonialists fight with Ho Chi Minh's freedom fighters in Indochina.
Further than that I will not go so as to maintain the suspense. However, this is a terrific read blending real life characters from the intriguing Vera Atkins to the vile Henri Dericourt with fictional ones such as Henry Bone, Catesby Kim Fournier -- who is the principal character in Wilson's other work -- the larger than life Lester Roach, Serge the Buchenwald survivor and artist along with his wife Huong.
This cracks along at a lively pace and is a must read.
November 16, 2023
Farewell dinner for a spy.
Another in a popular series, this novel starts in 1949 when spy William Catesby is accused of murdering a double agent, and one the Americans think of as one of their own. He has left-wing leanings which instantly make him a ‘commie’ in the eyes of the Americans and therefore a traitor. Philby and Burgess appear, pre their own betrayals which is a nod to the reader who knows, of course. A senior figure called Henry Bone throws him a lifeline, sending him to Marseille, to report on dockers' strikes but his cover story is he has been demobbed from the service and has become a writer researching a book on the Resistance. The story flips between 1949 and an elderly Catesby in 2018, so no jeopardy as we know he gets to live.
The writer has been likened to John le Carre but this is like comparing chicklit with Jane Austen. The writer has none of the subtleties of le Carre and none of the lessons in humankind. But this maintains its pace and if you like thrillers involving spies you will enjoy this.
I read a proof copy provided by Netgalley and the publishers.
Another in a popular series, this novel starts in 1949 when spy William Catesby is accused of murdering a double agent, and one the Americans think of as one of their own. He has left-wing leanings which instantly make him a ‘commie’ in the eyes of the Americans and therefore a traitor. Philby and Burgess appear, pre their own betrayals which is a nod to the reader who knows, of course. A senior figure called Henry Bone throws him a lifeline, sending him to Marseille, to report on dockers' strikes but his cover story is he has been demobbed from the service and has become a writer researching a book on the Resistance. The story flips between 1949 and an elderly Catesby in 2018, so no jeopardy as we know he gets to live.
The writer has been likened to John le Carre but this is like comparing chicklit with Jane Austen. The writer has none of the subtleties of le Carre and none of the lessons in humankind. But this maintains its pace and if you like thrillers involving spies you will enjoy this.
I read a proof copy provided by Netgalley and the publishers.
November 22, 2023
This is the first of Edward Wilson’s spy thriller series featuring William Catesby that I have read and I found it fine as a stand-alone read. It is set in the early Cold War years of the late 1940s/early 1950s with the USA supporting France as the latter struggles to maintain its colonial power in Vietnam. The docks of Marseille are a key route for supplies from France to Vietnam and are the scene of violent clashes between left wing dockers attempting to prevent the supplies from being shipped and French police, with mafia thugs backed by American intelligence officers weighing in against the dockers. This is the background to a cat and mouse game between William Catesby, undercover as a writer though in reality a British spy, and an assortment of characters from his wartime past whose motives and loyalties are far from clear.
This is a complex and entertaining read, with unexpected twists and turns. The mix of fictional and real-life characters and events adds a layer of interest. But I had difficulty in identifying or empathising with the “good guys” amongst the lead characters and I found some of the dialogue to be clunky and unconvincing.
This is a complex and entertaining read, with unexpected twists and turns. The mix of fictional and real-life characters and events adds a layer of interest. But I had difficulty in identifying or empathising with the “good guys” amongst the lead characters and I found some of the dialogue to be clunky and unconvincing.
August 25, 2024
Edward Wilson for me is the Graham Green of the last 20 years.
The William Catesby series is always both superb and eloquent, and epitomises the dilemmas faced by intelligence operatives throughout the 20th century (where all these are set)against the historical reality.This book set in the 1950s relates to American foreign policy and its naivety in regards to Indochina and the tail end of the French defeats of former colonies and the US involvement in Vietnam .Catesby is a flawed character and utterly believable.Various real personalities appear,Kim Philby and Vera Atkins, Atkins is interestingly portrayed, and she is someone I actually knew at the end of her life, his portrayal of her was fascinating as she was then.
The duplicity and conniving of the espionage world is beautifully written.
The William Catesby series is always both superb and eloquent, and epitomises the dilemmas faced by intelligence operatives throughout the 20th century (where all these are set)against the historical reality.This book set in the 1950s relates to American foreign policy and its naivety in regards to Indochina and the tail end of the French defeats of former colonies and the US involvement in Vietnam .Catesby is a flawed character and utterly believable.Various real personalities appear,Kim Philby and Vera Atkins, Atkins is interestingly portrayed, and she is someone I actually knew at the end of her life, his portrayal of her was fascinating as she was then.
The duplicity and conniving of the espionage world is beautifully written.
February 28, 2025
My mother and I have read the Catesby series from the Whitehall Mandarin through to this latest book. Wilson's writing style has improved significantly and the manner in which he explains weaponry combined with the relevant action is both informative and effective. With the possible exception of the two visits to Laos, we did not think the book lost it's impetus.
The main message of this book was overplayed and definitely too reflective of this century rather than the mid point of the last one. We both agreed that the new characters utilised in this book were well developed but one was too stark and somewhat over the top. The regular characters continued to ring true. There is a feint touch of Le Carre's Legacy of Spies in the last two Catesby books though neither contain the complexity of the process dissected in detail by that tome.
A very worthy addition to this series.
The main message of this book was overplayed and definitely too reflective of this century rather than the mid point of the last one. We both agreed that the new characters utilised in this book were well developed but one was too stark and somewhat over the top. The regular characters continued to ring true. There is a feint touch of Le Carre's Legacy of Spies in the last two Catesby books though neither contain the complexity of the process dissected in detail by that tome.
A very worthy addition to this series.
May 13, 2024
Another page turning episode in the life of William Catesby.
Edward Wilson’s latest novel is just superb. Set in the late forties with the cold war at its most frigid, Wilson’s perennial hero, William Catesby, is sent to France under cover by MI6. He negotiates a path between the overlapping interests of the CIA, the Mafia and left wing union activists, as he completes his mission. The first chapter, set in a French restaurant, is shockingly graphic, macabre, and horribly believable. Edgar Allen Poe would have been proud of the idea. Read this book, you won’t be disappointed.
This is such an interesting series that I plan to reread it in chronological order. Catesby’s chronology, that is, not the more random order that Wilson wrote the novels.
Edward Wilson’s latest novel is just superb. Set in the late forties with the cold war at its most frigid, Wilson’s perennial hero, William Catesby, is sent to France under cover by MI6. He negotiates a path between the overlapping interests of the CIA, the Mafia and left wing union activists, as he completes his mission. The first chapter, set in a French restaurant, is shockingly graphic, macabre, and horribly believable. Edgar Allen Poe would have been proud of the idea. Read this book, you won’t be disappointed.
This is such an interesting series that I plan to reread it in chronological order. Catesby’s chronology, that is, not the more random order that Wilson wrote the novels.
March 1, 2024
Could this be true?
I found this quite a long read, but it was engrossing. It concerns the exploits of a British SOE operative from World War Two who becomes a spy a few years after that war. The action is mainly set in France, particularly in Marseilles and includes a country hopping trip eastward to Laos..
A number of r dal life world events are drawn into the story with such realismthat, who knows,this could all be true. There are a number of larger than life characters who could be true as well.
However t her were a couple of times that, for me,, the book seemed to be losing it's way, but it did then get back on track. Overall it's well worth a read.
I found this quite a long read, but it was engrossing. It concerns the exploits of a British SOE operative from World War Two who becomes a spy a few years after that war. The action is mainly set in France, particularly in Marseilles and includes a country hopping trip eastward to Laos..
A number of r dal life world events are drawn into the story with such realismthat, who knows,this could all be true. There are a number of larger than life characters who could be true as well.
However t her were a couple of times that, for me,, the book seemed to be losing it's way, but it did then get back on track. Overall it's well worth a read.
November 27, 2023
A bit of plod with none of the frission of excitement/danger that lurks in a John Le Carre novel.
The Whitehall snobbery and fractious relations with CIA were well expressed. I’m not sure how throwing in real people actually added to the authenticity of the story.
I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
The Whitehall snobbery and fractious relations with CIA were well expressed. I’m not sure how throwing in real people actually added to the authenticity of the story.
I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
January 25, 2024
This was very different to the usual spy story. A lot of violence, back stabbing and double dealing. A multitude of characters and an intense storyline. Gives a different look to spies and their occupational hazards.
September 16, 2024
A Cracking Good Yarn
Edward Wilson's novel structure has allowed him to lead the reader through what might otherwise be complex stages of a thoroughly engaging tale.
This is great read. Get the book.
Edward Wilson's novel structure has allowed him to lead the reader through what might otherwise be complex stages of a thoroughly engaging tale.
This is great read. Get the book.
May 9, 2025
I don't think this is his best Catesby novel but I really enjoyed it nonetheless.
Wilson has taken Catesby back to just after the end of WWII so that Wilson can tell a tale of the beginnings of the CIA involvement in Vietnam and drug smuggling.
Wilson has taken Catesby back to just after the end of WWII so that Wilson can tell a tale of the beginnings of the CIA involvement in Vietnam and drug smuggling.
October 27, 2024
Love this series. Sorry I’ve reached the end
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