London, City of Espionage

This post is part of my City of Espionage series started earlier this year, about, well, cities associated with espionage and intelligence world in both fiction and the real world. This series is itself a part of a broader series of posts about spy thrillers. Today is about London. Of course, London is famous for being the residence and office base of the most famous fictitious secret agent in the world. But he is not the only secret agent that lives in London when he is not on a mission. Of course, London is the city where the headquarters of SIS/MI6 are. Also called Vauxhall Cross. Impressive piece of architecture, which unfortunately I haven't seen in real life just yet. It's in my bucket list. If I can ever take pictures of Vauxhall Cross (one never knows, with the intelligence community), I will share them here. In any case, just because of the MI6 Building, London deserves to be mentioned as a city of espionage. Obviously, it's also an essential centre for the intelligence community.

A Spy at War

Back in 2024, I read A Spy Alone, debut novel of Charles Beaumont. He is a former MI6 operative, so he knows what he is talking about. I had decided to rediscover spy thrillers and read more of them. I quite enjoyed it, it was a neat suspense, set in our time and Beaumont's professional background gave the book authenticity and believability. I discovered recently that he wrote a sequel A Spy at War. I have a lot on my TBR list, so I might wait a bit to buy this one, but I am tempted to get my hands on it all the same. Besides, as I am blogging more and more about the world of espionage, it might be good to have this novel as a reference.

Secret Service

Since the beginning of 2026, or almost, I have been binge watching spy thrillers. It seems to be my new pastime: watch and read spy fiction. And I found one recently in ITV that I wanted to mention here: Secret Service. It's with Gemma Aterton, a former Bond girl who made quite a nice little career since then. She is not my favourite actress, but I like her. She plays Kate Henderson, an MI6 agent in charge of the Russian desk, who finds out that one of the candidates for the position of UK prime minister might be a Russian mole. But she doesn't know which one. It's nothing too original, it has a few plot holes and you need to suspend your disbelief at times, but it's a solid and fairly well written thriller nonetheless. So yes, if you are living in the UK, I suggest you give it a go.

Spies for hire

Oh the algorithms of the internet really make me discover things. So I recently stumbled upon this article on Politico, saying that London now is booming with private security firms, with former secret agents (and ex military, and former police officers) now working in the private sector. In other words, there are now such things as spy companies. This is not entirely surprising to me, I kinda knew it existed since I read this novel. Still, I didn't suspect there were so many of them. Apparently, the aura London has thanks to a certain fictitious British spy did play a role in the developement of this new intelligence industry. I'm not sure I like it: I find it worrying that former secret agents switch their loyalty from a nation and a country to a company, or their own bank account. Eespecially since the industry is at the moment irregulated. That does not bode well for democracy. Nevertheless, I can see the dramatic potential for the witing of spy thrillers. Because sometimes I think like a writer.

The New C of SIS/MI6

There is a bit of news, not already getting old news, which I have been wanting to blog on. As you know, I like a good bit of spy fiction, albeit I don't read as much spy fiction as crime fiction. But yeah, I do enjoy it. Anyway, I learned recently that SIS, also known as MI6, has a new C. Which is the real life equivalent of M in James Bond movies (and books! Never forget that they were books before). And for the first time in its history, it is a woman, Blaise Metreweli. The Bond films had already started the trend in 1995. But what really struck me reading about her is her age: she is only a few months younger than me! Ouch! Moral of the story: some people just get cool careers, even if they are civil servants.

Knowing places in books

 I am currently reading A Spy Alone, which I am enjoying quite a lot. I started it not expecting much, just a half decent thriller, but it really caught my attention. Anyway, in the very first pages, it mentions and features two cities, Oxford and Reading. The former is more prominent than the latter, and the latter is truly a large town, not a city, but I digress. I have been to both is what I wanted to say. And it is one of the little bit of literary joys I have when I read: that first-hand knowledge of a place you are reading about. Am I the only one who feels like this? What about you?

Spy Thriller in the Bookshop

As this is Independent Bookshop Week, we went to the local bookshop recently. I love to support local businesses, especially local bookshops. I love our local bookshop for another reason: I always find some book I did not know existed, but worth checking. So yes, I found A Spy Alone by Charles Beaumont. I have no idea if it is going to be good or not, but I have been in the mood for a spy thriller. And Beaumont being a former MI6 operative, it should be well documented if nothing else.

MI6: facts from fiction

 I recently stumbled on this BBC article, which is an interview of a real employee of SIS, also known as MI6. It remains very vague, but it is quite interesting all the same. Of course, the real spies live in the shadow of James Bond and it seems that people still use the fiction as staple for their perception of MI6. As much as I love James Bond movies, I still think there is room for more realistic spy thrillers out there. I have watched and read a few, which I blogged about in the past. I hope this article and others like this one will inspire writers to write different kind of stories featuring SIS. Oh but for the record, I will still eagerly watch the next Bond movie.

£0.50 for a spy thriller

This is what I'm reading at the moment: Counterspy by Matthew Dunn. Subtitled: A Spycatcher Novella, so I understand it's part of a series. Written by a former MI6 officer, so if nothing else it must be somewhat authentic. So far so good, in any case. It is fairly entertaining and a pretty easy read. I bought it a couple of weeks ago in a small charity second-hand bookshop. When I end up in a bookshop, however small, I ought to buy at least one book. I play it by ear and just buy something on a whim. So I bought this one, which cost me 50p. In my price range and, when it is so cheap, it is very unlikely to disappoint.

SIS/MI6

I have sometimes geeky moments... This post is about one of them, which might bring me embarrassment. Because I am a James Bond fan and a Sandbaggers fan, and a Queen & Country fan, I have developed an interest about real life SIS, more commonly known as MI6. And I sometimes visit the organization's official website. Is that embarrassing? I find it fascinating, especially how unglamorous it presents itself. I blogged about MI6 before, I was thinking about writing more about it. I actually love the way the promotional videos picture SIS as this very open governmental organization, picturing its spies as competent civil servants, with fancy animation that gives it a modern, borderline funky side. There is even a page about C, with a short biography and a welcoming message from him. And we are talking about British secret services here. John Sawers does look and sound like a somewhat mild mannered civil servant. All these little details, the sober and undramatic tone, I find it surreal and oh so very interesting. As an immigrant, I browsed many governmental websites, mainly the Home Office's. But I never had fun browsing them. The website SIS, on the other hand, I just find so darn cool.

Skyfall and life imitating art

Last year, about the same time, I went to see Skyfall in cinema. I loved the movie. Those who watched it remember that there was a scene in it, when M played by Judi Dench, is taken to a public parliamentary hearing about the events of the movie. Well, it appears that life imitates art, as the head of SIS aka MI6 (who is called in real life C and not M, and yes I know why and it is very sad that I do) among other important figures of UK intelligence and counterintelligence is summoned to a parliamentary hearing, in order "to provide greater transparency about their work", says the BBC article. It is not as dramatic, in fact it looks like and sound just as tedious as a parliamentary committee hearing does, nevertheless I find it fascinating. Because it gives insights to a secret world, because it is always interesting to see the reality that inspired fiction.