Love & Deception: Philby in Beirut

James Hanning
Corsair, £25, pp408

The saga of the Cambridge spy Kim Philby might seem well-worn, but the investigative journalist James Hanning has eschewed a cradle-to-grave narrative in favour of concentrating on his espionage activities in Beirut in the 1950s, using fascinating new material he has unearthed. Hanning concentrates on the relationship between Philby and Eleanor Kearns and suggests that, for the most committed of traitors, there was never any competition choosing between his spouse and that most demanding mistress, the Communist party.

The Tale of the Tailor and the Three Dead Kings

Dan Jones
Head of Zeus, £9.99, pp95

Dan Jones is best known for his epic histories, which makes his first foray into fiction a surprising but effective change of direction. He has adapted a medieval tale of the supernatural (which was transcribed from the Latin by MR James in 1922); his tight, chilling account of an unsuspecting tailor and the terrifying shenanigans in which he is embroiled compares favourably with James’s own ghost stories, the author’s grasp of historical detail giving it welcome verisimilitude.

Ghosts of the West

Alec Marsh
Hachette, £9.99, pp265

The third in the series of Alec Marsh’s engaging historical mysteries, featuring the dashing, dipsomaniac duo of adventurer Ernest Drabble and journalist Percival Harris, sees the two head to the US in search of a stolen Native American artefact, only to discover a far more sinister conspiracy in the run-up to the second world war. Marsh’s mixture of derring-do and scholarship makes for a fun read and a suitably colourful supporting cast of rogues, turncoats and spies keeps the narrative hurtling along, even as graver points are made about the consequences of colonialism.

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