A Killing in Moscow [Hardcover]

Clive Egleton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1994

British agent Peter Ashton returns in a thriller that takes him from post-Cold War Russia to Helsinki and, finally, to London as he investigates a triple murder and finds a hotbed of corruption. By the author of Hostile Intent.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British spy Peter Ashton, first seen in Hostile Intent , has now taken a career jump sideways, to head the Vetting, Security and Technical Services division of Britain's SIS. Still under a shadow of suspicion from his earlier adventure, still struggling with a by-the-book immediate superior, the 30-something Ashton is also still a bit of a loose cannon. Here, he's trying not to get involved with the Moscow murder of a British businessman, but his security expertise betrays him when he uncovers an unwilling Russian spy in Britain's trade liaison office in that city. The plot unfolds to offer bent KGB agents, a shadowy English entrepreneur, Serb oil buyers and a pillar-of-the-community businessman in Seattle with family ties to the Serbs. Egleton is a master at keeping the pot boiling, developing an intricate plot and moving his characters around with great dash and no little humor. Moreover, his characterizations are deft--whether of a frightened young Russian woman, her emotional father, who risks his life for her, a corrupt KGB killer or Peter's statuesque, slightly gauche new love interest. In its second installment, this series is on firm--and firmly enjoyable--footing.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Peter Ashton, a British agent who first surfaced in Hostile Intent (St. Martin's, 1993), is an entrepreneurial agent who thinks for himself. Sent to the Moscow embassy to appraise the local security efforts, he gets caught up in the investigation of the murder of a British subject. Puzzled by contradictions in the evidence, he enlists the help of a minor Russian functionary, a woman who is beaten and tortured for what she may know. Soon, the trail leads to Seattle and Serbia, where international commerce has been put to corrupt ends. Egleton is never fanciful but always imaginative, and his latest novel is densely plotted and peopled with full and convincing characters. He writes so authoritatively about the inner workings of British intelligence that fiction is hardly the right word to describe his work. For all popular collections.
Barbara Conaty, Library of Congress
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 346 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; First US edition (June 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312104871
• ISBN-13: 978-0312104870
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,416,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The second Peter Ashton novel, November 10, 2010

By 

TChris (Tzer Island) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Killing in Moscow (Hardcover)

Clive Egleton's second Peter Ashton novel is better than his first (Hostile Intent). Ashton is given a stronger personality (the polite British version of abrasive) and he begins to have a life outside the office. The plot is a bit less far-fetched and a bit more interesting than the story in Hostile Intent in that A Killing in Moscow explores the relationship between the KGB and organized crime in post-Soviet Russia, arguing (through Ashton) that it doesn't matter whether the people on the other side are motivated by politics or greed if their actions jeopardize national security.

The novel begins with the execution of British businessman Colin Joyner and the prostitute he was entertaining in his Moscow hotel room. Peter Ashton, not quite trusted or simply disliked by those in power at SIS as a result of his actions in Hostile Intent, has been assigned to run Security and Technical Services where his access to top secret information is limited. Ashton, in Moscow to conduct a security audit, is sent by the British Embassy to assist the local police in the investigation of Joyner's death. This straight-forward task becomes more complicated when Ashton learns that a Russian woman employed as an Embassy secretary has been spying on the British Embassy official who monitors commercial transactions, and has been passing information to the prostitute who was found dead in Joyner's room. The novel follows Ashton as he puzzles out the relationship between the spy and Joyner. As in Hostile Intent, Ashton makes it his responsibility to keep the spy alive, creating the opportunity for some fast moving action scenes.

The pace in A Killing in Moscow is intense and Egleton's prose is more fluid than it was in Hostile Intent. The combination of intellectual intrigue and well written action scenes makes this a fun reading experience, and the ending is just wild. I would give A Killing in Moscow 4 1/2 stars if Amazon offered that option.