Another fast and fun read. Pretty simple plot this time - which is good because that minimizes the number of times the reader will stop and say, "Wait - what about ..." or "Would anyone really do ...".

#5 in the series and my new least favourite (by a wide margin). Liz is posted to the Northern Ireland office (despite having almost no relevant experience) as the HR department is concerned about her "relationship" with Charles, whose wife has now died. Set very specifically soon after the Good Friday Agreement brought (mostly) peace to Northern Ireland, this novel has aged badly - it felt dated, rather than historical.

Once again Liz muses about making a move on the oh-so-recently widowed Charles (in such poor taste and showing such poor judgment), while proving irresistible to a male counterpart in French intelligence.

The plotting of this novel was very poor; SPOILERS: Judith fails to vet the cleaning lady/babysitter she shares with Liz and she turns out to be the widow of an IRA martyr with a grudge against the British government; Dave (in a way that is so totally out of character for him that I couldn't really suspend my disbelief) goes off on a massively ill-advised solo mission; Liz fails to turn her phone on for 48 hours while flirting in Paris; Liz summons Peggy to NI for her "invaluable assistance" and Peggy does what I thought Judith was supposed to be doing; Dave is kidnapped by two men after a misunderstanding on the part of a Spanish gunman with poor English; and despite the fact that one of these men is determined to kill an MI5 officer, instead they keep Dave alive and take him on a cruise to France via Portugal before storing him in a wine cellar and plan to trade him to a terrorist organization.

The whole thing was ridiculous. ( )

Started December 21st, 2013.
Interesting turn of events from the settings and personal relationship developments in the last book.
To stop something the powers that be decide to post Liz to Ireland, which could be a boring job after peace treaty is signed.
But it is not, old IRA resentments and long held grudged (justified or not) lead to the discovery of a plan to disrupt the peace process.
Mistakes are made, people die, but is not entirely gripping or fast-paced enough to justify 5 stars.
No stretch of to much personal developments either, so I settle for 4 stars.
As usual very good, very British English, recommended. ( )

I can't compare this to any of the rest of Rimington's oeuvre; this is the first I've read, but it's a pretty solid representation of the genre, and I would definitely read more.

The plot is credible, the goodies sympathetic, the baddies the opposite; the action is compelling enough and the climax satisfying. Characterisation is sketchy but not entirely absent.

The big minus is that while the Belfast setting lends realism, it is distinctly unglamorous; the big plus that Stella Rimington's name and CV lends the stamp of authority: one feels, rightly or wrongly, that this is, or at least approximates as closely as possible within the rules of readable fiction to what it was (is?) really like - and not just the techniques and processes, but, more importantly, the relationships among and between MI5 officers and their colleagues nationally and internationally.

This is worth a great deal in the mind of the reader, and is the reason why I think this series of novels stand a chance of a slightly longer afterlife than many like it. ( )

Enjoyable and compelling - a great holiday read. ( )