Product Description
Old Flames is a riveting spy novel sparked by historicalevents, with a twisting, turning plot that The Sunday Times (London)declares "a strange, thoughtful, quiet, intelligent spellbinder of abook, penetrating the very heart of betrayal." It is April 1956 at theheight of the Cold War: Khrushchev and Bulganin, leaders of the SovietUnion, are in Britain on an official visit. Chief Inspector Troy ofScotland Yard, son of a distinguished Russian emigre, is assigned tobe Khrushchev's bodyguard and to spy on him. Soon after, a Royal Navydiver is found dead and mutilated beyond recognition in PortsmouthHarbor. What was he doing under the hull of Khrushchev's ship, and whosent him there? Is the corpse that of Arnold Cockerell, a furnituresalesman with a mysterious source of income and a bizarre fetish forscuba gear, or did Cockerell fake his own death to escape an unknownnemesis? To find the answers, Inspector Troy must venture into theheart of the M16. He encounters the trifling bureaucrats of ScotlandYard, fellow officers who may be sleeping with the enemy, andseductive identical twins. Meanwhile cold-blooded killings havestarted to follow him wherever he goes. Is it possible that theexecutioner is a fellow policeman-or, worse still, an old friend? In aworld where secret codes lead to hidden Swiss bank accounts and anentire nation struggles to makes sense of itself in the wake of war,can anyone be trusted? Brilliantly evoking the atmosphere of the ColdWar and London in the 1950s, Old Flames is a thrilling adventure ofintrigue and suspense.
About the Author
John Lawton has spent the last ten years making television programmes, mostly for Channel 4, and editing volumes of H. G. Wells' work. He is the author of the Detective Sergeant Troy series of crime novels. He lives in Derbyshire.
