5 Stars Crime journalist Lynnford is on the case again attempting to solve the deaths of two young female croupiers from a club in London. His editor transfers him temporarily to the Parliament beat much to his distaste but leaves him also with the crime file. Fortunately he is able to combine the two and with the help of newspaper colleagues and his almost fiancée, Victoria, figure out who killed the girls, solve a couple of other murders, remove foreign agents from England, and hand the Parliamentary file back to the woman who was temporarily away. The action moves quickly and it kept my attention. Each of the main characters was well developed, even the "baddies" so I could tell what their motivations were. The intervention of MI5 added an additional level of intrigue. This is the second Riley book I have read and I will continue to enjoy this authors work.

4 Stars "A spy novel set in London, 1953. Clipped accents, old boys network, great fun." What a hoot! A really fun read but I couldn't get rid of the character actor's voices from the BBC radio series Paul Temple. Seemed to fit like glove. It's a four from me for fun and simplicity.

3 Stars "London in 1953" I didn't realise that this was the third in a series but it was fine as a standalone. Set in 1953 in London, it involves an investigating journalist, MI5, MI6, Scotland Yard, the Russians and some Polish gangsters. In places I was reminded of Dick Tracy stories, lots of running around in Morgan cars, getting across London in twenty minutes (those were the days). A pleasant enough story, cosy and easy to read. I could picture most of the action as I lived in central London for many years.