‘The Second Traitor’ by Alex Gerlis.

Published by Canelo,
12 March 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-80436 378-2 (PB)

It’s September 1940 and German forces have swept through Europe and are now in France and looking towards the shores of England.  The Nazis are making plans to invade Great Britain and the decision has been made to use a flotilla of barges to convey thousands of troops and material.  The invasion needs to be made at a specific time to ensure that weather conditions and tides are favourable for such a huge endeavour, and September is the month. 

The British intelligence agencies are, of course, aware of this plan and have established the Invasion Warning Sub-Committee to counter the threat.  The existence of the sinister organisation, The Group, is of concern – it’s a collection of British and Irish Nazi collaborators, aiming to pave the way for the invasion forces.  The spy chiefs are also searching for a double agent, ‘Archie’, a Soviet spy/British traitor.  They are confident that he works in MI6 and an elaborate scheme is set up to try to narrow down the list of suspects.  However, to make matters more confused, they are now sure that there is a second traitor, ‘Bertie’, at work.  With suspicions at paranoia pitch, MI6 needs to find the spies. 

This is a complicated novel, with a large cast, many of whom have multiple identities, names and masters – a list of characters is provided.  Further complexity is introduced by the number of countries involved, as the story moves between England, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Russia. 

This is the second of a four-novel series, The Double Agent  adroitly handles the combination of double agents operating in Europe in a constantly tense and threatening atmosphere.  As such, this is perhaps one of those instances in which the reader might prefer to read the first instalment, in order to fully appreciate this continuation, which sets the scene for the next episode.
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Reviewer: Jo Hesslewood
Other books by this author:  The Double Agent series:  Spy Masters, and The Richard Prince Thrillers. 

Alex Gerlis was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. He graduated from Hull University with a degree in Law and Politics and after a variety of jobs in political research and journalism joined the BBC in 1984 on a three month contract and ending up staying for over twenty-seven years. His BBC career began as a researcher on Panorama and he then worked as a Producer on a number of programmes, including The Money Programme. In 1990 he became an Assistant Editor on Breakfast News, covering major stories such as the first Gulf War and the fall of Margaret Thatcher. 

Jo Hesslewood.  Crime fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves.  For twenty-five years the commute to and from London provided plenty of reading time.  I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop .  I enjoy attending crime fiction events and currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.