The war is over – and Column Six, a group of spies including Gideon “The Poet” Hazel and Abercrombie “Filthy” Lewker – is celebrating before they disband. The celebration turns sour when Lewker spots a message to their boss claiming that if Ulrich Bann, a war criminal, is executed, then “Miss May” – Georgie May, another operative – will also die. But as the group has been disbanded, this isn’t anything to do with them.

Hazel and Lewker decide to investigate on their own. Lewker has a history with Georgie, his first love – indeed, his first Rosalind – and is determined nothing is going to happen to her. With the slimmest of leads, they head to Algiers, but it will take many adventures before they find Miss May.

To recap – as Glyn Carr, Showell Styles wrote fifteen murder mysteries featuring Lewker, but there were three (or possibly four) thrillers preceding these under his real name, thrillers that co-starred Hazel. Indeed, Hazel is the leading character. The first, Traitor’s Mountain, has Lewker very much a supporting character, but here, he’s the co-lead with Hazel, spouting Shakespeare, especially As You Like It, at every opportunity.

Fascinating fact – Lewker always keeps a climbing rope coiled around his stomach. Just because.

This is entertainingly written with some clever sections – for example, at one point our heroes need to catch a bus across the desert and this whole sequence is told from the point of view of the bus driver.

At the end of the day, though, this is a straightforward adventure story with escapes and derring-do, but lacking any sort of twist, unlike its predecessor. It’s fun, but only essential for completists (who won’t be surprised where Kidnap Castle is located) – don’t splash out too much on this one!