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An Irregular Spy Thriller #2
The Red Ribbon: An Irregular Spy Thriller
In 1910 London, Captain Vernon Kell's fledgling secret intelligence service faces being shut down before it has even begun its job of saving the British Empire from German and Russian spies.
Harassed by politicians like the ambitious Winston Churchill, bullied by Special Branch, undermined by his colleague's ill-advised foreign ventures, and alarmed at his wife's involvement with militant suffragettes, Kell is making no progress in tracking high-profile leaks from the government. To make matters worse, his best (and only) agent, Wiggins, would rather be working cases of his own.
Wiggins grew up on the streets of London, one of the urchins trained in surveillance by Sherlock Holmes and known as the Baker Street Irregulars. He has promised to avenge the death of his best friend, and to track down a missing girl from the East End.
But when his search takes him to an embassy in Belgravia—an embassy that's actually a high-class brothel presided over by the fearsome "Big T," one of his fellow Irregulars—Wiggins is drawn into a conspiracy that will test both his personal and professional resolve.
Harassed by politicians like the ambitious Winston Churchill, bullied by Special Branch, undermined by his colleague's ill-advised foreign ventures, and alarmed at his wife's involvement with militant suffragettes, Kell is making no progress in tracking high-profile leaks from the government. To make matters worse, his best (and only) agent, Wiggins, would rather be working cases of his own.
Wiggins grew up on the streets of London, one of the urchins trained in surveillance by Sherlock Holmes and known as the Baker Street Irregulars. He has promised to avenge the death of his best friend, and to track down a missing girl from the East End.
But when his search takes him to an embassy in Belgravia—an embassy that's actually a high-class brothel presided over by the fearsome "Big T," one of his fellow Irregulars—Wiggins is drawn into a conspiracy that will test both his personal and professional resolve.
352 pages, Paperback
First published November 13, 2018
15 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
H.B. Lyle
4 books31 followersH.B. Lyle lives in South London with his partner and their twin daughters. He has a MA in creative writing, followed by a PhD. He also writes screenplays.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 25, 2018
This is my first read of this series featuring Wiggins, who as a child was the head of the ragtag group of street urchins who helped Sherlock Holmes. This is a blend of historical fiction with elements of historical reality set in 1910 where a febrile atmosphere abounds with fears of German and Russian spies and assassins. In London King Edward VII is dying and its a nightmare organising the security of numerous important VIP attendees to his funeral. There is bone deep poverty as workers struggle to feed their families as wages are cut and there is the emergence of women who think that more direct action is required in the suffragette movement if they are to succeed in acquiring the right to vote. The political establishment, spearheaded by Winston Churchill and the intelligence agencies are willing to put down the protests by workers and suffragettes by any means necessary, including heavy brutality that the media has been encouraged to not cover. The idiocy, prejudice and sense of entitlement within the establishment is breathtaking, believing that the rich, powerful and privileged are infinitely superior and the lower classes and women are to be dismissed, demonised and perceived as enemies of the state.
Captain Vernon Kell, head of the recently established Secret Service Bureau, with only one agent, Wiggins, is facing the threat of closure from the odious head of Special Branch and others. Kell is having to respond to the pressure to find who is leaking from the establishment to the Germans, the list of possible suspects is enormous, and the more Kell looks into this, the more convinced he is that the leaks have been taking place for some time. Churchill is insisting Kell and Wiggins infiltrate workers protests to provide the intelligence to crush them. All of which leaves Kell stressed and pressurised, he only has one agent, and it leaves no time to devote to look at the network of German and Russian spies. The situation is exacerbated by Wiggins seeking personal vengeance on anarchist Peter the Painter for killing his best friend, Bill and childhood companion, Sal's daughter, Jax, wanting him to find out what happened to the disappeared Millie. Wiggins is led to the Embassy of Olifa where questionable activities are taking place and where he encounters Big Tommy, once a irregular. On top of all this, Kell's wife, Constance, is a person of interest to Special Branch for her support of the suffragettes.
I enjoyed reading this tale of espionage from HB Lyle, but it did feel rather too sprawling and the narrative could have been tightened up considerably. This would have lent the novel a more coherent and more cohesive sense to the story. I liked the character of Wiggins, challenged by so many that he knew that he was working for those whose intention was to crush them, the poor, workers, women and the vulnerable. As he sees the lack of justice when those in power commit the gravest of crimes and get away scot free, it is barely surprising that he is not keen to work for Kell any longer. However, Kell needs him, Wiggins is his best agent, if not the best agent in the country. I found this an engaging, absorbing and entertaining book. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.
Captain Vernon Kell, head of the recently established Secret Service Bureau, with only one agent, Wiggins, is facing the threat of closure from the odious head of Special Branch and others. Kell is having to respond to the pressure to find who is leaking from the establishment to the Germans, the list of possible suspects is enormous, and the more Kell looks into this, the more convinced he is that the leaks have been taking place for some time. Churchill is insisting Kell and Wiggins infiltrate workers protests to provide the intelligence to crush them. All of which leaves Kell stressed and pressurised, he only has one agent, and it leaves no time to devote to look at the network of German and Russian spies. The situation is exacerbated by Wiggins seeking personal vengeance on anarchist Peter the Painter for killing his best friend, Bill and childhood companion, Sal's daughter, Jax, wanting him to find out what happened to the disappeared Millie. Wiggins is led to the Embassy of Olifa where questionable activities are taking place and where he encounters Big Tommy, once a irregular. On top of all this, Kell's wife, Constance, is a person of interest to Special Branch for her support of the suffragettes.
I enjoyed reading this tale of espionage from HB Lyle, but it did feel rather too sprawling and the narrative could have been tightened up considerably. This would have lent the novel a more coherent and more cohesive sense to the story. I liked the character of Wiggins, challenged by so many that he knew that he was working for those whose intention was to crush them, the poor, workers, women and the vulnerable. As he sees the lack of justice when those in power commit the gravest of crimes and get away scot free, it is barely surprising that he is not keen to work for Kell any longer. However, Kell needs him, Wiggins is his best agent, if not the best agent in the country. I found this an engaging, absorbing and entertaining book. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.
April 20, 2018
I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advance copy of The Red Ribbon, the second novel to feature ex Baker Street Irregular turned spy, Wiggins.
It is 1910 and the recently created Secret Service is tasked with finding the mole who is leaking embarrassing secrets to the Germans. In the meantime Wiggins is still hunting the anarchist, Peter the Painter, who shot and killed his best friend Bill but in return for much needed help he agrees to hunt for Millie, a young girl who disappeared from the Embassy of Olifa.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Red Ribbon which is a complicated read with all strands of the plot interconnecting at some point, often in surprising ways. I would like to call it lighthearted as Wiggins has a cynical, sometimes amusing take on life and the decisions some of the "toffs" take are ludicrous but the descriptions of the poverty and the government's brutal response to unrest negate this as they are historical fact and cannot be disputed. These descriptions are so well done that I found them quite sickening.
The plot is quite silly in places with a tongue in cheek approach as Captain Vernon Kell, head of the domestic Secret Service, bumbles about while Wiggins does the thinking and most of the work but, coming from the lower classes, has no status or authority. The class divide is emphasised in the novel but I have no idea how realistic it is. I do, however, think that the assumption that mole must be a clerk, not "one of us" is very believable.
I have awarded The Red Ribbon 4 rather than 5 stars as I found my attention wandering by the end. It is slightly too long and gets a bit repetitive with Wiggins wondering about his place in society and Constance Kell's suffragette angst. Still it is a good read and I'm already looking forward to the next instalment so I have no hesitation in recommending it.
It is 1910 and the recently created Secret Service is tasked with finding the mole who is leaking embarrassing secrets to the Germans. In the meantime Wiggins is still hunting the anarchist, Peter the Painter, who shot and killed his best friend Bill but in return for much needed help he agrees to hunt for Millie, a young girl who disappeared from the Embassy of Olifa.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Red Ribbon which is a complicated read with all strands of the plot interconnecting at some point, often in surprising ways. I would like to call it lighthearted as Wiggins has a cynical, sometimes amusing take on life and the decisions some of the "toffs" take are ludicrous but the descriptions of the poverty and the government's brutal response to unrest negate this as they are historical fact and cannot be disputed. These descriptions are so well done that I found them quite sickening.
The plot is quite silly in places with a tongue in cheek approach as Captain Vernon Kell, head of the domestic Secret Service, bumbles about while Wiggins does the thinking and most of the work but, coming from the lower classes, has no status or authority. The class divide is emphasised in the novel but I have no idea how realistic it is. I do, however, think that the assumption that mole must be a clerk, not "one of us" is very believable.
I have awarded The Red Ribbon 4 rather than 5 stars as I found my attention wandering by the end. It is slightly too long and gets a bit repetitive with Wiggins wondering about his place in society and Constance Kell's suffragette angst. Still it is a good read and I'm already looking forward to the next instalment so I have no hesitation in recommending it.
May 23, 2018
Head of Britain's nascent Secret Intelligence Bureau, Vernon Kell had been tasked with uncovering a mole within the government - someone who is leaking intelligence details to the Germans.
This is the 2nd in the series featuring former Baker Street Irregular, Wiggins, Kell's best, in fact his only, street agent. Wiggins has been given what he considers a "boring" job - a list of names of Government civil servants to investigate, but he has other things on his mind. He's still hunting for the infamous anarchist "Peter The Painter" who, during the course of a robbery, murdered his best friend Bill, a young London policeman. Another friend has asked him to track down Millie, a young girl who disappeared from the Embassy of Olifa which turns out to be a high class brothel. (Olifa is a fictional country mentioned in a book by one of Britain's earliest spy writers, John Buchan while of course Wiggins is a former agent for English literature's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes).
If that weren't enough, Wiggins is also keeping a watchful eye on Kell's wife, Constance who's involved with the Suffragette movement battling for the rights of women to vote. Kell thinks he and his wife have grown apart and believes she may be seeing another man when, in fact, she is mixing with a more dangerous group of women plotting more than marches and demonstrations in support of their cause.
Kell's work is even more complicated as his Government masters demand he find the leak as soon as possible or his department will be taken over by Special Branch. Without Wiggins' full support, Kell has to fall back on his own initiative and when he discovers there has been a leak about a foolhardy plan by the Secret Service's foreign department to send 2 military men into Germany to act as spies, he knows he must intervene.
Eventually, Kell, Constance and Wiggins are forced to travel to the Hanseatic port of Bremen on the coast of Germany, to rescue Cumming, head of the foreign department and hopefully his would-be agents, who Wiggins believes to be rank amateurs in the world of espionage. Kell's commanding knowledge of foreign languages paired with Wiggins' street smarts help them through some dangerous moments.
The plot of this story is labyrinthine in parts and would improve with some editing, but when the action finally gets under way, there's plenty for the spy thriller fan to enjoy.
On the plus side however, the whole is a great blend of historical fact and fiction featuring famous figures from politics and the security services in the first decade of the 20th Century.
As well as Kell and Cumming, Patrick Quinn, head of Britain's Special Branch waits in the wings hoping that Secret Intelligence Bureau fails, allowing him to increase the power of Britain's "secret police". Winston Churchill - the then British Home Secretary - makes an appearance demanding that Kell files reports on a wide range of "revolutionaries" who he believes are a danger to Britain. These include trade unionists and Suffragettes, which shows how reactionary Britain's upper classes were at this time and indeed continued to be for decades to come. Wiggins himself experiences how the Establishment mistreats "the lower classes". H.B. Lyle, the author, contrasts the stark difference in conditions for rich and poor in London in the years before World War I and perfectly captures the atmosphere of the era.
Although, it could do with some editing, (the various twists and turns in the plot mean you have to keep your wits about you) this is a fine spy story and I'll continue to read other books in this series.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
This is the 2nd in the series featuring former Baker Street Irregular, Wiggins, Kell's best, in fact his only, street agent. Wiggins has been given what he considers a "boring" job - a list of names of Government civil servants to investigate, but he has other things on his mind. He's still hunting for the infamous anarchist "Peter The Painter" who, during the course of a robbery, murdered his best friend Bill, a young London policeman. Another friend has asked him to track down Millie, a young girl who disappeared from the Embassy of Olifa which turns out to be a high class brothel. (Olifa is a fictional country mentioned in a book by one of Britain's earliest spy writers, John Buchan while of course Wiggins is a former agent for English literature's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes).
If that weren't enough, Wiggins is also keeping a watchful eye on Kell's wife, Constance who's involved with the Suffragette movement battling for the rights of women to vote. Kell thinks he and his wife have grown apart and believes she may be seeing another man when, in fact, she is mixing with a more dangerous group of women plotting more than marches and demonstrations in support of their cause.
Kell's work is even more complicated as his Government masters demand he find the leak as soon as possible or his department will be taken over by Special Branch. Without Wiggins' full support, Kell has to fall back on his own initiative and when he discovers there has been a leak about a foolhardy plan by the Secret Service's foreign department to send 2 military men into Germany to act as spies, he knows he must intervene.
Eventually, Kell, Constance and Wiggins are forced to travel to the Hanseatic port of Bremen on the coast of Germany, to rescue Cumming, head of the foreign department and hopefully his would-be agents, who Wiggins believes to be rank amateurs in the world of espionage. Kell's commanding knowledge of foreign languages paired with Wiggins' street smarts help them through some dangerous moments.
The plot of this story is labyrinthine in parts and would improve with some editing, but when the action finally gets under way, there's plenty for the spy thriller fan to enjoy.
On the plus side however, the whole is a great blend of historical fact and fiction featuring famous figures from politics and the security services in the first decade of the 20th Century.
As well as Kell and Cumming, Patrick Quinn, head of Britain's Special Branch waits in the wings hoping that Secret Intelligence Bureau fails, allowing him to increase the power of Britain's "secret police". Winston Churchill - the then British Home Secretary - makes an appearance demanding that Kell files reports on a wide range of "revolutionaries" who he believes are a danger to Britain. These include trade unionists and Suffragettes, which shows how reactionary Britain's upper classes were at this time and indeed continued to be for decades to come. Wiggins himself experiences how the Establishment mistreats "the lower classes". H.B. Lyle, the author, contrasts the stark difference in conditions for rich and poor in London in the years before World War I and perfectly captures the atmosphere of the era.
Although, it could do with some editing, (the various twists and turns in the plot mean you have to keep your wits about you) this is a fine spy story and I'll continue to read other books in this series.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
November 6, 2018
Captain Vernon Kell is still fighting to keep a secret intelligence service from being blended into the Special Branch of London’s police. Kell is assigned to find a mole that has been leaking secrets to Germany. But he is sent after those deemed enemies of the state, the lower classes and suffragettes. It doesn’t help that his only agent, Wiggins is distracted and hunting Peter the Painter, the one that killed his best friend. He is convinced to look into the disappearance of a girl, Millie, from the Olifa Embassy.
I liked the Irregulars for the mix of history and the world of Sherlock Holmes. Kell is doing his best to keep things going but it’s hard when he is expected to find a mole. It doesn’t help that his wife is a suffragette and he is starting to worry that she is seeing another man. Unfortunately she in worse trouble with some people that want to do more than just protest.
Wiggins is focused on the man that killed his best friend but does agree to look into the disappearance of Millie. This leads him to the Embassy of Olifa which is really a brothel. It doesn’t help when two men are sent to Germany to be spies and need to be rescued by Kell and Wiggins.
This is a great sequel to The Irregulars. Things have gone to hell for the country and Kell is threatened to lose his little department. Wiggins was trained by the great Sherlock Holmes and has a hard time with this group although he is the best, if only, person Kell has. I love this series and can’t wait for more books in it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
I liked the Irregulars for the mix of history and the world of Sherlock Holmes. Kell is doing his best to keep things going but it’s hard when he is expected to find a mole. It doesn’t help that his wife is a suffragette and he is starting to worry that she is seeing another man. Unfortunately she in worse trouble with some people that want to do more than just protest.
Wiggins is focused on the man that killed his best friend but does agree to look into the disappearance of Millie. This leads him to the Embassy of Olifa which is really a brothel. It doesn’t help when two men are sent to Germany to be spies and need to be rescued by Kell and Wiggins.
This is a great sequel to The Irregulars. Things have gone to hell for the country and Kell is threatened to lose his little department. Wiggins was trained by the great Sherlock Holmes and has a hard time with this group although he is the best, if only, person Kell has. I love this series and can’t wait for more books in it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
March 30, 2021
It's 1910, the King is dead, and Wiggins is hunting German spies for the government. He's also trying to trace a missing girl on behalf of the daughter of his friend and find the man who previously tried to kill him. These novels featuring one of Sherlock Holmes's Irregulars all grown up are great adventure stories full of twists and interesting characters. I hope there will be many more books to come.
February 20, 2019
This book did it! I am now a huge fan of H.B. Lyle and I simply cannot wait for his next book!
Any fan of Sherlock Holmes will thoroughly enjoy these books! H.B. LyleThe Irregular
The Red Ribbon
Any fan of Sherlock Holmes will thoroughly enjoy these books! H.B. LyleThe Irregular
The Red Ribbon
October 18, 2018
I received a copy of The Red Ribbon from Hachette Australia to review.
Rating of 4.5.
Return to pre-World War I London for another compelling spy adventure in H. B. Lyle’s second book, The Red Ribbon, which is set in the same universe as Sherlock Holmes and features three exciting characters with an intriguing look at early 20th century British history and espionage.
In London, in 1910, Captain Vernon Kell is still attempting create a secret intelligence service capable of protecting England from foreign spies and infiltrators. Despite the early success of the Secret Service Bureau, Kell’s organisation is constantly under pressure from the country’s politicians and is in danger of being absorbed into Special Branch of London’s police.
Unfortunately, Kell’s only agent, Wiggins, is distracted with his own cases and unwilling to play the political games needed to help the service survive. Wiggins is the former leader of Sherlock Holmes’s street urchin surveillance organisation, the Baker Street Irregulars, and has picked up a few of his old master’s deductive tricks while retaining his lower-class charm and street smarts. Wiggins is obsessed with finding the infamous anarchist, Peter the Painter, the man responsible for the death of one of Wiggins’s oldest friends, and is scouring the streets for him.
Looking for a missing girl on behalf of one of his contacts, Wiggins begins to investigate a mysterious embassy located in the affluent neighbourhood of Belgravia. The embassy is actually a high-class brothel frequented by the rich and powerful of London. When another girl associated with the embassy is found murdered, Wiggins attempts to find justice; however, the embassy is under the protection of someone Wiggins knows well: Tommy, a fellow former member of the Irregulars.
The Red Ribbon is the follow-up to Lyle’s debut novel, The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy, and is the second book in the Irregular Spy Thriller series. This is a great series that will appeal to a huge range of readers, as Lyle combines compelling historical fiction elements with a thrilling espionage story that has fictional links with one of the most iconic book series of all time, Sherlock Holmes.
Click link for full review:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2018/10/18/...
Or visit my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
Rating of 4.5.
Return to pre-World War I London for another compelling spy adventure in H. B. Lyle’s second book, The Red Ribbon, which is set in the same universe as Sherlock Holmes and features three exciting characters with an intriguing look at early 20th century British history and espionage.
In London, in 1910, Captain Vernon Kell is still attempting create a secret intelligence service capable of protecting England from foreign spies and infiltrators. Despite the early success of the Secret Service Bureau, Kell’s organisation is constantly under pressure from the country’s politicians and is in danger of being absorbed into Special Branch of London’s police.
Unfortunately, Kell’s only agent, Wiggins, is distracted with his own cases and unwilling to play the political games needed to help the service survive. Wiggins is the former leader of Sherlock Holmes’s street urchin surveillance organisation, the Baker Street Irregulars, and has picked up a few of his old master’s deductive tricks while retaining his lower-class charm and street smarts. Wiggins is obsessed with finding the infamous anarchist, Peter the Painter, the man responsible for the death of one of Wiggins’s oldest friends, and is scouring the streets for him.
Looking for a missing girl on behalf of one of his contacts, Wiggins begins to investigate a mysterious embassy located in the affluent neighbourhood of Belgravia. The embassy is actually a high-class brothel frequented by the rich and powerful of London. When another girl associated with the embassy is found murdered, Wiggins attempts to find justice; however, the embassy is under the protection of someone Wiggins knows well: Tommy, a fellow former member of the Irregulars.
The Red Ribbon is the follow-up to Lyle’s debut novel, The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy, and is the second book in the Irregular Spy Thriller series. This is a great series that will appeal to a huge range of readers, as Lyle combines compelling historical fiction elements with a thrilling espionage story that has fictional links with one of the most iconic book series of all time, Sherlock Holmes.
Click link for full review:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2018/10/18/...
Or visit my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
October 18, 2018
I received a copy of The Red Ribbon from Hachette Australia to review.
Rating of 4.5.
Return to pre-World War I London for another compelling spy adventure in H. B. Lyle’s second book, The Red Ribbon, which is set in the same universe as Sherlock Holmes and features three exciting characters with an intriguing look at early 20th century British history and espionage.
In London, in 1910, Captain Vernon Kell is still attempting create a secret intelligence service capable of protecting England from foreign spies and infiltrators. Despite the early success of the Secret Service Bureau, Kell’s organisation is constantly under pressure from the country’s politicians and is in danger of being absorbed into Special Branch of London’s police.
Unfortunately, Kell’s only agent, Wiggins, is distracted with his own cases and unwilling to play the political games needed to help the service survive. Wiggins is the former leader of Sherlock Holmes’s street urchin surveillance organisation, the Baker Street Irregulars, and has picked up a few of his old master’s deductive tricks while retaining his lower-class charm and street smarts. Wiggins is obsessed with finding the infamous anarchist, Peter the Painter, the man responsible for the death of one of Wiggins’s oldest friends, and is scouring the streets for him.
Looking for a missing girl on behalf of one of his contacts, Wiggins begins to investigate a mysterious embassy located in the affluent neighbourhood of Belgravia. The embassy is actually a high-class brothel frequented by the rich and powerful of London. When another girl associated with the embassy is found murdered, Wiggins attempts to find justice; however, the embassy is under the protection of someone Wiggins knows well: Tommy, a fellow former member of the Irregulars.
The Red Ribbon is the follow-up to Lyle’s debut novel, The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy, and is the second book in the Irregular Spy Thriller series. This is a great series that will appeal to a huge range of readers, as Lyle combines compelling historical fiction elements with a thrilling espionage story that has fictional links with one of the most iconic book series of all time, Sherlock Holmes.
Click link for full review:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2018/10/18/...
Or visit my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
Rating of 4.5.
Return to pre-World War I London for another compelling spy adventure in H. B. Lyle’s second book, The Red Ribbon, which is set in the same universe as Sherlock Holmes and features three exciting characters with an intriguing look at early 20th century British history and espionage.
In London, in 1910, Captain Vernon Kell is still attempting create a secret intelligence service capable of protecting England from foreign spies and infiltrators. Despite the early success of the Secret Service Bureau, Kell’s organisation is constantly under pressure from the country’s politicians and is in danger of being absorbed into Special Branch of London’s police.
Unfortunately, Kell’s only agent, Wiggins, is distracted with his own cases and unwilling to play the political games needed to help the service survive. Wiggins is the former leader of Sherlock Holmes’s street urchin surveillance organisation, the Baker Street Irregulars, and has picked up a few of his old master’s deductive tricks while retaining his lower-class charm and street smarts. Wiggins is obsessed with finding the infamous anarchist, Peter the Painter, the man responsible for the death of one of Wiggins’s oldest friends, and is scouring the streets for him.
Looking for a missing girl on behalf of one of his contacts, Wiggins begins to investigate a mysterious embassy located in the affluent neighbourhood of Belgravia. The embassy is actually a high-class brothel frequented by the rich and powerful of London. When another girl associated with the embassy is found murdered, Wiggins attempts to find justice; however, the embassy is under the protection of someone Wiggins knows well: Tommy, a fellow former member of the Irregulars.
The Red Ribbon is the follow-up to Lyle’s debut novel, The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy, and is the second book in the Irregular Spy Thriller series. This is a great series that will appeal to a huge range of readers, as Lyle combines compelling historical fiction elements with a thrilling espionage story that has fictional links with one of the most iconic book series of all time, Sherlock Holmes.
Click link for full review:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2018/10/18/...
Or visit my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
February 19, 2019
I read about 1/2 of this book and put it down. I just found that there were too many story lines going on at the same time. This would not be so terrible, but even at the 1/2 way point, none of the stories seemed to be progressing. It just went on and on. It was not terrible. But I thought to myself, why am I wasting my time reading this story when there are so many other great books available in the world.
February 22, 2019
London, 1910, suffragettes and German spies and English secrets in government. The language in use was challenging, from gutter slang to toffs' airs, but it was worth it for the look at history that crackles and puts to shame the white-washing given the period.
July 30, 2020
I enjoyed this detective adventure. It is not my usual fare, but I liked the way that the action is littered with failings and incompetence, and that the characters' imperfections are plainly portrayed. I requested it from my library by accident, and would now like to read the previous book.
May 21, 2022
Another in the Baker Street Irregulars series. Wiggins is still trying to save King and Country, but he is working alone and underfunded. Will he find the leak who is sharing plans with the Germans? Will he save the little girl? Read on.
October 21, 2019
This book has it all— suspense, espionage, humor, and romance. Then there is the historical aspect—the growing unrest throughout Britain, amongst workers, women agitating for the vote
April 2, 2023
3.5 stars.
September 28, 2019
Surprisingly good
This is a well written, compelling and historically accurate look at early twentieth century British government and the beginnings of MI5 and MI6. Great characters. Exciting and believable plots. Really very good.
This is a well written, compelling and historically accurate look at early twentieth century British government and the beginnings of MI5 and MI6. Great characters. Exciting and believable plots. Really very good.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews