This novel could be viewed as a cautionary tale: be careful what you wish for.

Kit Carradine is a successful author of spy novels, whose life has stagnated. No wife, no children, no pets… ‘If I was a book, I’d be stuck at the halfway stage’. His father suggests that what he really needs is an adventure, ‘something to get you out of the office’. Serendipitously Kit is approached by Robert Mantis, purporting to be from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who offers Kit the chance to play on the edge of the world of espionage. ‘The Agency’ is trying to help a woman (aren’t they always), who is believed to be hiding in Morocco. As Kit is already going there for a book festival, he has the perfect cover to look for Lara Bartok, who is a ‘remarkable young woman, cunning and unpredictable’, and, of course, drop-dead gorgeous (yawn - sooooo predictable).

‘Writers on research trips provide perfect cover for clandestine work. The inquisitive novelist always has a watertight excuse for poking his nose around. Any unusual or suspicious activity can be justified as part of the artistic process. You know the sort of thing. Atmosphere, authenticity detail.’

So Kit does, of course, find Bartok, and he does, of course, fall in love with her. But all is not as it seems, and suddenly the waters are muddied by American spies, and Russian spies, who would appear to want Bartok dead. But why? Whose side is she on?

This is not a genre I usually read, but I thought I’d dip my toe into the ocean of spy novels and read one that is not as hard-core as some. This was the perfect choice. Kit Carradine is constantly feeling out of his depth. ‘He was a writer, not a spy. To think that he could intercede in the Russian plan to assassinate Bartok was foolish, perhaps even delusional.’ As Carradine tries to unravel the complexities of who works for what agency, and who murdered who, and why, Cumming clarifies details that keep the reader from getting lost in the plot.

The Man Between (published in the US under the title The Moroccan Girl), is a classic page-turner. Kit Carradine is a relatable ‘everyman’, looking for adventure and getting more than he bargained for!