A Telegraph ‘Best Crime and Thrillers of 2025’ selection
THE NEW FIRST WORLD WAR SPY THRILLER FROM THE MASTER OF THE GENRE

'Judd, a veteran spy novelist and former diplomat, knows his way around Britain's world of shadows. He takes the reader straight back to the start of the first world war and the long, smoke-filled, gloomy corridors of Whitehall ministries', Financial Times
'Emily Grey proves so engaging that I hope she'll keep going into the Cold War', Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph
'Veteran spy writer Alan Judd eschews easy drama and obvious cliffhangers in this elegantly written novel' Literary Review

In the glorious summer of 1914, Emily Grey, a young Cambridge undergraduate, is studying German in Heidelberg. While there she meets Hans, a philosopher with grey eyes and long lashes, who wins her heart and asks her to marry him. When the First World War intervenes, however, she is forced to return to England, leaving Hans behind to join the Imperial Navy.
 
A year later, Emily is recruited to serve in a recently established government department. Commander Cumming, head of His Majesty’s newly-formed Secret Service — sometimes also known as MI6 — is keen to make use of Emily’s language skills. Assigned to interview an informer known as ‘The Dane’, she learns of a plot so audacious it has the potential to change the entire course of the war.
 
At Rosyth in Scotland, the home of the British Grand Fleet, Emily must work undercover to locate the mole the heart of the British naval establishment. Who is the traitor known only by the codename ‘Heiffer’? And can she find him in time to prevent a military catastrophe that would spell disaster for the country she serves?
 
Blending unparalleled authenticity with literary flair and historical accuracy, Alan Judd has created a gripping thriller about the early days of MI6 that cements his reputation as a master of the historical spy novel.

'A masterful storyteller with an intricate knowledge of his subject' The Daily Telegraph