Friends and Traitors has more of the feel of a literary novel than thriller but to me, that is not a bad thing. It’s the latest in the series featuring Freddie Troy (and the first I’ve read) and follows his interactions with British diplomat and Soviet agent Guy Burgess through the mid-twentieth century.

Freddie is the son of a Russian émigré, a man who is wealthy and well connected, a newspaper proprietor and baronet. However his father, a widely read and intellectually curious man, is all too aware of his precarious status and that public opinion could turn at any moment against him and his family.

Freddie embraces the outsider identity by electing not to join the normal professions of the upper classes. Instead he has decided to be a police officer. The book begins with a dinner party at his father’s home, where he first meets Burgess, shortly before he is due to start at Hendon police college.

They have a number of chance encounters in the years before Burgess’ defection and the book briefly shifts into Burgess’ point of view to show us his defection to Moscow and the shape his life takes afterwards. But it is only about two-thirds of the way into the book, when Troy’s family holiday in Vienna is thrown into chaos by a meeting Burgess has engineered, that the thriller element of the story begins.

Freddie’s relationship with Burgess is a nuanced one. He is aware of the artifice of Burgess’s public persona, but still somehow intrigued by him, as if watching a great performer at work.

This is a fragmentary story but an atmospheric one. I enjoyed Troy’s wonderfully flamboyant family, his relationships with police colleagues, his opinions on a changing society and the interweaving of real historical figures and events. The depiction of the Blitz was particularly vivid.

Friends and Traitors gives a fascinating perspective on the Establishment of the time, what has changed – and what hasn’t. There are references to Troy’s past cases, to events in his life going on in the background, and to the way Troy, with his Russian language skills and unique connections, has previously been co-opted into espionage cases. I hope these aren’t spoilers for the earlier novels, as I’m now very keen to read more about Freddie Troy.
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I received a copy of Friends and Traitors from the publisher via Netgalley.
Read more of my reviews at katevane.com ( )

Troy is back ! Just when you thought you'd never see another Freddie novel he arises for his 8th adventure, "Friends and Traitors" (FT) - thank you John Lawton. Lawton wrote seven excellent Troy novels from 1995-2010. The 2010 book, "A Lily of the Field", felt like the curtains closed for a final time. I feared Troy had drifted away to the same literary cemetery as Lisbeth Salander, Bernard Samson, George Smiley, Mitch Rapp, Peter Guillam. But no, there has been yet another resurrection. Maybe there's still hope for more.

The series is set mostly in London and environs from the late 30's to the very early 60's. Troy is a detective on the murder squad, perhaps responsible for a murder or two of his own. What set the series apart for me was the London WWll settings, the bombings, the blackouts, underground shelters, the dignity and resolve of the Brits, and the convoluted plots. Troy is a son in a successful, monied, Russian ex-pat family. Brother Rod is a high ranking member of the Brit government. Dad ran an influential journal and knew everybody. Brit PMs were frequent cast members, often guests at dinner , like Harold MacMillan. Troy also had opportunities to meet with Joe Kennedy, Winston, Nikita.... And then there are Freddie's twin sisters, Sasha and Masha, fun girls who still like to roam the mansion late at night naked as the day they were born. And sometimes the three of them go a bit too far.

The Troy series is an incredible bowl of spaghetti. You might be reading merrily along and find that the story has leapt ahead five years, then back eight years and a character is introduced whom you know will die because she died in the previous book. Lawton began another series in 2013 with a character named Joe Wilderness, who plays a role in guess what? yes FT. Unfortunately, The Wilderness books didn't interest me all that much.

So what's FT about? Guy Burgess of all people, as in Burgess, Maclean, Philby, the notorious spy triple of England 50s and 60s. Troy meets Guy at the house, at a dinner party of course, and doesn't much care for him. Guy makes little secret of the fact that he is "queer" and Troy quickly establishes that he is not. As a matter of fact, Troy dates a number of vibrant women in this book just as he has in the other seven. His marital status is unclear; technically he is still married to Tosca who may or may not be a spy for the Russians. Troy hasn't seen her for almost two years. Troy also enjoys Venetia, and Foxx. Only one of the three is killed. Guy enjoys guys and lots of booze, lots. Troy and Guy keep bumping into each other in popular members only clubs of varied repute over the ensuing years, and it's clear that although Burgess may be a spy he doesn't seem capable of doing much harm and after all, whom would you tell? On a somewhat spur of the moment moment Guy and Maclean defect, then soon go their separate ways.

Sometime later, Troy becomes aware that Guy misses London and wants to come back. And the story gets even more interesting. I enjoyed FT very much, it's 4 1/2 stars, and I hope there are more to come. FT doesn't quite maze all around like the first six Troys and that's unfortunate, I still enjoyed the trip back in time. And before too long I will probably reread the whole series, maybe in order this time. ( )

Inspector Frederick Troy has never been one to follow advice, and when his family was warned to avoid Guy Burgess, Troy avoided the advice. Not that Troy was exactly fond of Burgess, thinking of him as more the bad penny always turning up than any sort of confidante. Though who would confide in anyone as indiscreet and reckless as Burgess was a puzzle.

Friends and Traitors presents Troy’s tepid friendship throughout the years from their meeting in 1935 to the day Burgess infamously defected to the Soviet Union with MacLean, one of the Eton spies whose betrayal encompassed a third man, a fourth, and possibly several more. You would think having defected and decamped to Russia, Burgess would finally stop impinging on Troy’s life, but no such luck.

Burgess misses England and wants to come home and the person he reaches to for help is Troy, embroiling him in a murder and bringing him under suspicion of being another in the cluster of traitors. Can Troy clear himself and find the real murderer?

Friends and Traitors is John Lawton’s eleventh novel and his eighth featuring Inspector Troy. As the series progresses, each book tosses away more and more of the conventions of genre fiction. If this book were a singleton – not part of a series – it would be classified as literary fiction examining the role of identity, family, patriotism, and honor in Cold War England. The fact of being a spy is central to Burgess’ identity and his role in the story, but the particulars of his espionage are immaterial. The murders come very late and are not the purpose of the story which is really about Troy figuring out more about himself and what he values.

Lawton has incorporated real historical figures in his books in the past, though never quite so completely as he has with Guy Burgess, the spy. He does it very well and Burgess’ charm and pitiable state come through along with his vulgarity, making it easy to understand how Troy could enjoy him and pity him while also slightly disliking him all at the same time.

I have loved this series since its inception. Troy is a complicated character, compromised by his affection for others, by love and loyalty that is personal rather than patriotic. He does not just sail close to the wind, he risks being blown off course. I enjoy this series and would love to see them in a Masterpiece Mystery series though it’s possible Troy with his empathy for friends and traitors like Guy Burgess is too complicated for television.

I received an advance e-galley of Friends and Traitors from Atlantic Grove through NetGalley

Friends and Traitors at Grove Atlantic
John Lawton author site

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