No. 2 Whitehall Court

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   

Alan Judd is the author of two biographies and seventeen novels, three of which have been filmed. He has won the Guardian Fiction award, the Heinemann award and the Royal Society of Literature’s Winifred Holtby award. His novels include the Charles Thoroughgood spy series and A Fine Madness, featuring the life and death of Christopher Marlowe, poet, playwright and spy. He also wrote The Quest for C, the authorized biography of Mansfield Cumming, founder of MI6, for which he was granted access to Cumming’s diary. He has reviewed widely and has been a regular columnist for the Telegraph, the Spectator and the Oldie. He is an Honorary Fellow of Keble College, Oxford, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.