Cover image of "A Spy Alone," a novel about a private intelligence firm

Ex-spies have written a lot of the very best espionage novels. John le Carré, of course. John Buchan (The Thirty-Nine Steps). Frederick Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal). Jason Matthews (Red Sparrow). Charles McCarry (The Miernik Dossier). Alma Katsu (Red Widow). David McCloskey (Damascus Station). Among others. Now along comes former MI6 field officer Charles Beaumont, the author so far of two novels about the fictional Oxford Spy Ring. In the first, A Spy Alone, he introduces us to ex-spy Simon Sharman, who now operates a remarkably unsuccessful private intelligence firm. And just as it looks as though Simon will have to close up shop, another ex-spy who works for a rival private agency passes along an assignment. An assignment which, as we might suspect, will come very close to killing him.

At Oxford, the main characters emerge as undergraduates

The action unfolds over the course of three months in 2022, and the scene shifts all over England and across the Continent. But the roots of the story lie in Oxford beginning in 1992, where Simon was an undergraduate. There, he did his utmost to work his way into the inner circle around Professor Peter Mackenzie of Jesus College. Mackenzie is a world-famous contrarian, an intimate of the prime minister and other leaders on both sides of the Atlantic. A small coterie of students surrounds him, most notably a strange and brilliant young man named Rory Gough.

They all know, as does Simon, that if Mackenzie whispers a word in the right ear, their careers in public service will be assured. Yet that is out of reach for Simon, as is Sarah du Cane, a beautiful Swedish-Italian aristocrat with whom he is hopelessly in love. He eventually leaves Oxford behind and drifts into a field job with the Pole, one of the country’s most secret intelligence agencies. (Its name is a contraction of the Metropole, the London hotel which was its first headquarters.) Meanwhile, Gough makes his way into the world of finance. By 2022, he’s a billionaire many times over and has replaced the now-late Mackenzie at the PM’s side. But like his mentor Gough has steered the government rightward, throwing his support behind Brexit and neutrality on the war in Ukraine.

A Spy Alone (Oxford Spy Ring #1) by Charles Beaumont (2023) 369 pages ★★★★★

Composite photo of the Cambridge Five, possibly a model for the Oxford Spy Ring investigated by a private intelligence firm
From left to right, Kim Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross were known as the Cambridge Five, high-level KGB spies of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Image: TheCollector

A suspenseful spy story from a veteran MI6 field operative

In chapters alternating between the events that transpire in 2022 and their antecedents in the three previous decades, Beaumont immerses us in the excruciatingly complex investigation Simon undertakes. He is, at first, alone. Then, as threats to his life surface as a result, he teams up with Sarah du Cane. Now middle-aged, Sarah is an Oxford don, perhaps the world’s leading expert on Slavonic languages. But she moonlights as the government’s chief advisor on Russian politics and foreign policy. Only with her help can he begin to put the pieces together. And he soon learns that their investigation not just threatens his life but poses great danger for Britain and its allies as well. The stakes couldn’t be bigger. But it’s unclear until the very end who is behind it all.

Beaumont brings to bear a career’s worth of intimate knowledge of spycraft. For example, in the book’s lede, he reveals that when trying to evade surveillance, a savvy older field operative will look at a suspected follower’s shoes. They can change their clothes, but almost never their shoes. And of course, this small bit of espionage wisdom will prove to be helpful as Simon must evade detection in a series of tense and dangerous incidents all over Europe.

About the author

In a note at the end of this novel, author Charles Beaumont discloses that he “worked undercover as an MI6 operative in war zones, on diplomatic missions, and in international business. His work spanned two decades and four continents. This is his first novel.” It seems fitting that there’s no other biographical information about Beaumont anywhere online that I can find, including in an interview with him conducted on the Spybrary website. Nor can I find a photo of him.

For a great book about the Cambridge spy ring, see The Trinity Six by Charles Cumming (A stellar new spy story by Charles Cumming).

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