Set in 1970s London, ''Legacy'' is a spy novel by English author

Alan Judd Alan Judd (born 1946) is a pseudonym used by Alan Edwin Petty. Born in 1946, he is a former soldier and diplomat who now works as a security analyst and writer in the United Kingdom. He writes both books and articles, regularly contributing to a ...

. Published in 2001 it continues the story of Charles Thoroughgood, first introduced in his

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, ''A Breed of Heroes'', published 20 years earlier. British historian

Peter Hennessy Peter John Hennessy, Baron Hennessy of Nympsfield, (born 28 March 1947) is an English historian and academic specialising in the history of government. Since 1992, he has been Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary Unive ...

described it as 'one of the best spy novels ever'.

Plot Introduction

Living in Queensway, London, Charles Thoroughgood has now left the Army and has enrolled with

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

. While he is undergoing basic training in espionage techniques he is asked to make contact with Victor Koslov, whom he knew briefly at Oxford University before he joined the Army. Victor is now a

liaison officer A Liaison officer is a person who liaises between two or more organizations to communicate and coordinate their activities on a matter of mutual concern. Generally, liaison officers are used for achieving the best utilization of resources, or empl ...

attached to the Soviet Embassy and has been spotted visiting a prostitute. Thoroughgood arranges a "chance" meeting, but Victor tells him that Thoroughgood's father (now dead) was a Soviet spy. Thoroughgood reports back to his mentors, who confirm that it may be true. They also suspect that his father may have been involved in Operation Legacy, the creation of a network of secret caches hidden by the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

in strategic locations in western countries. Thoroughgood manages to locate one such cache near his childhood home in

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

. At the conclusion of the book another cache is found in

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is a ...

, near the

Sizewell nuclear power stations The Sizewell nuclear site consists of two nuclear power stations, one of which is still operational, located near the small fishing village of Sizewell in Suffolk, England. Sizewell A, with two Magnox reactors, is now in the process of being dec ...

Reception

*''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' is positive, "a twisty, accomplished, and engaging Cold War thriller", finishing with "The conclusion plays out a bit too neatly, but, still: savory, cozy, nicely textured, and very British" *''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' agrees, "Employing a number of intricate and entertaining twists, Legacy takes us back to

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...

and the golden age of spy novels. This is a secret service run by avuncular civil servants who commute from Kent and Surrey, spend the weekends digging their gardens, and, in the sleepy and indirect manner of well-clubbed gentlemen, play brilliant endgames that protect us against enemies without and within". *Joanne Ahern writing for

RTÉ.ie RTÉ.ie is the brand name and home of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)'s online activities, located at the URL https://www.rte.ie/. The site began publishing on 26 May 1996. According to RTÉ, it operates on an entirely com ...

says: "Although award-winning author Alan Judd spins a wholly believable and interesting tale the book is terribly slow-moving in places and Thoroughgood, like his name, is not a very exciting character. However, the book is redeemed by its surprise ending."

Publication history

*2001, UK, HarperCollins, , Pub date 17 Sep 2001, Hardback *2002, UK, Isis, , Pub date Jun 2002, Audio Cassette *2002, UK, HarperCollins, , Pub date 21 Oct 2002, Paperback *2003, US, Knopf, , Pub date 08 Apr 2003, Hardback *2004, US, Vintage, , Pub date Nov 2004, Paperback *2009, UK, Harpercollins, , Pub date 01 Jul 2009, Paperback *2012, UK, Simon & Schuster, , Pub date 05 Jan 2012, Paperback www.fantasticfiction.co.uk
Retrieved 2013-01-01.

Television adaptation

The novel was adapted for television by the BBC in 2013.

References

{{reflist 2001 British novels Cold War spy novels Novels set in London Fiction set in the 1970s Novels set in Buckinghamshire Novels set in Suffolk English thriller novels HarperCollins books British novels adapted into films British novels adapted into television shows