The Madness of July

By James Naughtie

From Radio 4's James Naughtie, a sophisticated thriller about loyalty, survival and family rivalry deep in the Cold War, drawing on decades of experience as a political insider in Westminster and Washington.

'A hugely satisfying thriller that grips from the first page to the last.' Kate Mosse.

It is a sweltering July in the mid-1970s, and for Will Flemyng, foreign office minister, the temperature is rising with each passing hour. A mysterious death has exposed secret passions in government, bringing on a political crisis that will draw him back into a familiar world of danger and deceit.

For Flemyng has a past. He was trained as a spy for a life behind enemy lines and now he's compelled to go back. In the course of one long weekend he must question all his loyalties: to his friends, his enemies, and to his own two brothers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Feb 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781781855997

James Naughtie

James Naughtie presents the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 and is former chief political correspondent of the Guardian and, before that, the Scotsman. He presents Bookclub on Radio 4, music and opera on BBC radio and television. He is a former Laurence Sterne fellow on the Washington Post and Sony Radio Personality of the Year. James Naughtie and his family live in London.