The Mulberry Bush - Tapa dura

'Better than John le Carré ... perhaps the best ever' Lee Child.

'A grand master of espionage fiction' Guardian.

'A poignant spy tale ... a breathless love story allied with a devious spider's web of a thriller. Adding such a fragile human element to a Le Carré-like deviousness makes this a terribly bittersweet read in which a master storyteller chronicles the secret world and anchors it in a melancholy reality. Like a spear to the heart' Maxim Jakubowski, Lovereading.

'McCarry is one of the finest spy novelists in the world ... Serpentine and stylish, McCarry has the late Eric Ambler's elegant sureness of touch. There could be no higher praise' Daily Mail.

'This is a slow, cerebral thriller that nonetheless offers a persuasive account of the realities of the espionage life' Mail on Sunday.

'Fascinating, horrifying and, one must suppose, plausible. It is also a very good read' Literary Review.

'Charles McCarry proves impressively up-to-date with the methods and tensions of international espionage' Guardian (2015 Books of the Year).

'Has intrigue, plausibility and a pleasing mix of 20th- and 21st-century intelligence tradecraft' Esquire.