The Scarlet Papers: ‘The best spy novel of the year’ SUNDAY TIMES

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There are a few twists and turns along the way. Some very clever, others predictable. And also some quite worthy obfuscation. As with My Name Is Nobody (the other book by this author that I have read) the story and all its interconnected parts flowed very well. Culminating in a satisfying ending. This is a superb spy thriller that begins in the present day when Dr. Max Archer, Associate Professor of Intelligence History at the London School of Economics’, receives a card with the mysterious message: “Tomorrow 11AM. Take a cab and pay in cash. Tell no one. Dry-clean thoroughly. Scarlet King. (PS ATLAS)”.

Not one of my favourite go-to genres but the blurb really did interest me and I am not adverse to a splodge of historical fiction so I thought I'd give it a whirl...Rowland White, publishing director, acquired world rights in all languages from Euan Thorneycroft at A M Heath, for publication in 2023. All film and television rights are being handled by Conrad Williams at Blake Friedmann on behalf of A M Heath. Superbly constructed and written with flair ... this might be the best spy novel of the year Superbly constructed in an elaborate twisty spy yarn. It's highly unlikely that there will be a better espionage novel this year Overall, I found ‘The Scarlet Papers’ a multilayered, intellectually satisfying work of spy fiction in the tradition of John le Carre’s George Smiley novels. There’s plenty of suspense and twists along with references to historical events and figures. And there's the first problem. If this was just your standard two-viewpoint, twin-timeline narrative, that would be fine. But the memoir is written like fiction (for unconvincing reasons). As fiction, it reads well, but as a supposedly non-fiction genre inserted, mise-en-abyme style into the other narrative, it doesn't really work.

Both of these errors seemed like they were either deliberately planted so as to be revealed as such later—or, simply the result of somewhat superficial research. Because while there is clearly research in this novel, it feels like a stone skipping across a lake rather than a deep dive. Hence my feeling that there was too much distance, as a result, probably, of too much telling as opposed to showing. Addictive, original and outrageously entertaining . . . Matthew Richardson proves himself a writer of huge talent and skill CHARLOTTE PHILBY Addictive, original and outrageously entertaining . . . Matthew Richardson proves himself a writer of huge talent and skill' CHARLOTTE PHILBY Superbly constructed and written with flair ... this might be the best spy novel of the year Sunday Times

LONDON, THE PRESENT DAY: A British academic on the run with the chance to solve one of history's greatest mysteries. World War Two events were never going to be clear cut or clean. Wartime was nasty, trust was not automatically given, there were double agents, triple agents and the intelligence services were ruthless in their endeavours. So the twists and turns, when they arrive, are the result of withholding information rather than inserting disinformation. There's just another chapter in which something else is revealed that we weren't told about earlier. So dreadful in so many ways, a wish-fulfilment novel about a wannabe spy drawn into Hollywood version of espionage. The plot, which involves several giant coincidences, might have worked as a parody…and the dialogue is ridiculous when it tries to be clever. And so begins a chase - For the manuscript. One side eager to publish. The other just as eager to spike. As well as that, we learn the content of said manuscript which is a spy thriller's dream. Can Archer stay one step ahead and get the job done...