Whitcoulls Recommends: The Death of Us and A Spy at War

The Death of Us by Abigail Dean. Isabel is a lead protagonist in this story, who throughout much of the book directly addresses the intruder who perpetrated a home invasion on her and her husband Edward when they were 30 years old and happily married, but those days are long gone. More than 20 years later, they reunite to attend the trial of a man finally charged with the crime, trying to reconcile their lives before, and after. This is gripping psychological drama.

A Spy at War by Charles Beaumont. Simon Sharman is a former British spy gone rogue to track down the Chechen assassin who murdered his friend and business partner Evie. He’s a man alone, but his friends and former colleagues in Whitehall are never far away and it turns out there’s much more going on than his solitary pursuit of the bad guy – British intelligence has its fingers in several pies and it takes Simon a while to figure out his place in their schemes. Set amidst the war in Ukraine and the kind of news headlines we’ve seen for three years now, this story takes you right up close to some of the action and its commentary on US and European politics could be said to be prescient. It’s terrific espionage and if, like me, you love David McCloskey and I.S.Berry, this one’s for you. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Ab Joan McKenzie's with us. Good morning. Hello. You have
got a book by Abigail Dene It's called The Death
of Us.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Yeah, it's her third book, and it shows again how
talented she is at taking traumatic events in someone's life
and then trying to make sense of them. The first
one she did was called Girl A, and it was
modeled on a family in California that listeners may remember
a few years ago, the Turpin family, where twelve kids
were found being held in what became known as the

(00:41):
House of Horrors, and Girl A was modeled on that
real life story. That's right right. In this one, you've
got Isabelle and Edward who are thirty years old. They're
happily married when an intruder perpetrates the home invasion, which
changes everything. And throughout much of this book, Isabelle speaks
directly to the guy who did it, talking as though

(01:01):
he's in the room and telling him about the ongoing
impact that he's had on her life. And I think
it's a rare, really clever literary device because you hear
and feel everything with her in the context of him,
but there are other voices as well. The story is
told in three parts. There are different points of view.
There's the past and the present, and you realize that
this was truly a love story which was shattered by

(01:23):
a meaningless act of violence, and the author explores the
impact of that on them and on their relationship, about
how so much was lost, but then as life goes on,
so much is also found. They've gone on to different
lives and Isabelle couldn't put it behind her, but Edward
decides twenty years later to attend the trial which is
finally taking place, to see justice done and to see

(01:45):
what they can solve it from it. Overall, I would
say this is a book which clearly has some dark moments,
but it's actually a story about survival and love and
how love can survive so much that gets thrown at.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
It and not based on a true story. No, I
don't believe so right, Okay, I love a good spy thrillery.
You've got one for us today, A spy at by
Charles Beaumont.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yes, this is great. So the Russia Ukraine War is
in full swing with social media and disinformation amongst the
smartest weapons being used, and there's a range of mercenaries
and other vested interests all jockeying for position. And a
guy called Simon Shalman is a former British spy who's
gone rogue to try and track down the Chechen assassin

(02:28):
who murdered his friend and business partner Ivy, And he
thinks he's on a solo mission, but actually his friends
and former colleagues at Whitehall are never many steps behind,
and it turns out there's a lot more going on
than his solitary pursuit of the bad guy. British Intelligence,
of course, has its fingers and lots of pies, and

(02:49):
it takes Simon quite a while too long really to
figure out what where he sits in their scheme. But
as it's set amongst the war in Ukraine and the
kind of headlines that we've been seeing for three years now,
this takes you right up close to some of the action.
I've got to say, the commentary that it makes on

(03:09):
us and European politics right at the moment could be
said to be prescient great espionage. As you said, we
both love a good spy story. If you love David
mclos who did Damascus Station and Moscow X and so on,
or I S. Berry who did The Peacock and the Sparrow,
which many of us have loved. Then this book is

(03:29):
for you.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Brilliant, Thank you so much, Joe. In those two books,
The Death of Us by Abigail Dean and A Spy
at War by Charles Beaumont, which took next week.

Speaker 3 (03:37):
See you then.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks It'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio