Charlie's Apprentice: A Charlie Muffin Mystery

There's a new boss at England's spy shop and he's got Charlie Muffin working for his number two, a woman. This is a new experience for Charlie, but one he tells himself he can live with. When he finally gets the call to meet with her, he hopes she's going to give him a field assignment, but alas, she tells him that it's time for him to pass on his vast experience to another and she assigns him an apprentice. Charlie's job, to teach him what he couldn't learn in spy school, those little secrets that are so vital in the field, in short, how to survive. Charlie doesn't fancy himself as a teacher, but he's determined to do the job to the best of his ability. Maybe if he does exceptionally well, they'll put him back on the active duty roster. However when his apprentice graduates, they send him to China to try and get out a priest-spy whose cover has been blown and they leave Charlie in place in London. The apprentice is captured and now Charlie's bosses send for him to go in and get out the priest while the apprentice languishes in a Chinese prison. Meanwhile in Russia Natalia, Charlie's old flame, is living with his child, a son Charlie knows nothing about. While he has often wondered what had become of her, he'd never believe that she is now the head of Russian intelligence and she's using her power to try and find out what happened to him. Back in China, Charlie fails to get the priest out and barely escapes with his life. His plan had been sound, so he knows somebody has betrayed him. Who? And will he find out about his son? And if he does, what will he do about it? As I used to say all those years ago when I gave book reports in grade school, "You'll have to read the book to find out." As usual Brian Freemantle has delivered up the kind of book that will leave you with a laugh and a thorough respect for his knowledge of how the secret world of spies integrates with politics and every day life. Muffin is a delightful character who has been around for almost ever and hopefully will be around for a long time to come. There is absolutely no spy, living or dead, who understands the trade craft as well as Charlie Muffin.