‘The Spy and the Snake’ by M. J. Robotham.

Published by Head of Zeus,
9 July 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-0359219-7  (HB)

Maggie Flynn has been a spy with MI5 for a few years and so is pleased to have had her contribution and skills acknowledged with an assignment abroad.  She is not so sure about it when she hears the details but sets out for Budapest where she is to pose as the wife of a notorious British defector (and MI6 agent), make contact with him and smuggle him back to the UK.  It is made clear that the onus is on her alone to organise and carry this out in a few days. 

On arriving in Budapest Maggie is immediately entranced by the city, the cakes, the coffee and also the people.  However, she is somewhat dismayed by her first sight of the defector, Fitzroy Carver, who is physically very large and, as she discovers, frequently very drunk.  Maggie makes contact with his carer, Lida, who seems to understand him and, having reviewed her own situation, Maggie decides that she has to take some risks.  Zoltan, who has been giving her breakfast and advice, proves to be a firm support and, with Lida and Zoltan’s brother, plans are swiftly made to get Fitzroy out of the country. 

The chief component of the plan is a beaten-up campervan nicknamed Rita which, it is hoped, will carry all three across a few borders without attracting attention.  As work on Rita proceeds, Maggie continues to get to know Budapest and meets another English person, Tom Bredon, who seems to be very pleasant - but Maggie has her suspicions. 

In the space of a few days, she has done well to organise her exit strategy, but she is made aware of the danger she is in when she is picked up and questioned by the local secret service.  Her release suggests that Tom Bredon is not what she thought him to be.  However, the plan must be followed and, after a somewhat rocky beginning she, Lida and Carver, ably assisted by the campervan, undertake the difficult journey. 

The story is set in late 1960’s London and Hungary – the Swinging Sixties and the Cold War.  The author creates the atmosphere of underlying tension and hope, lets Budapest play its own part in the story, and creates some lively and attractive characters.   The gentle humour and the sense of friendships built in difficult circumstances adds to the picture.  Maggie’s determination to succeed provides some nail-biting incidents and is rewarded with some well-earned bits of luck for her and for other people she meets on her assignment.  

This is the second book in the Maggie Flynn series. It’s not necessary to have read the first book but it might, at some point, be interesting to know how she got into the arcane world of espionage.  She has proved herself to be quick-witted, brave and resourceful, and it will be interesting to see how her character is allowed to develop as she learns more about the complex world of espionage and its devious inhabitants.
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Reviewer: Jo Hesslewood
Other books by this author:  in this series:  Mrs Spy; The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux (General Fiction). 

M. J. Robotham is a former journalist and midwife. Her first novel, The Spy, was published in 2018. The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux (General fiction) was published by Aria in 2024. Her latest book is The Spy and the Snake, published 9 July 2026. 

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.