The Spy

This is the fourth in the series with Detective Kamil Rahman as the central character and if there’s one theme that runs through this book, it’s conflict.

Kamil is dissatisfied with his job in London’s Met Police, where he feels sidelined and undervalued and a job from which he is shortly to be sacked from. It’s not the first time that Kamil’s fallen foul of his employers!

Now, post-sacking, Kamil’s back working for his best friend and former employer, Anjoli at her restaurant in the East End. Feeling jealous of the new chef, who’s obviously interested in her and whilst Kamil has feelings for her, he’s got no idea if she feels the same way about him. Is this out of the frying and into the fire?

Kamil’s Imam informs him of a possible terrorist plot and that the son of Anjoli’s friend appears to have been kidnapped. Whilst trying to find out where the Imam has vanished to, he is approached by MI5 to work for them to uncover what they believe is a plot based in a mosque and headed up by a shadowy operative known only as Black Cobra.

Infiltrating the mosque for MI5, is stressful for Kamil, and as he delves into the conflict between Muslim and Hindu in Kashmir, it sees our eponymous hero back in the sights of an old adversary. This certainly opened my eyes to a conflict that has its roots in Partition and is exploited by outside forces. This is a conflict where it appears – in my opinion – that no one had learnt the lesson of ‘two wrongs don’t make a right.’

I have to say that I find Kamil quite a passive character at times in this story. He is the man who has stuff happen to him, rather than making it happen. Anjoli is definitely the mover and shaker and so this is why they work well together perhaps?

What feels a little slow at first, gathers pace and tone nicely. The use of text messages and also the Harry Potter references in the captive son's video messages are very clever plot devices.