The Predicament is William Boyd’s second book in a trilogy featuring the writer and reluctant spy Gabriel Dax; you don’t need to have read the first, Gabriel’s Moon, to enjoy the second. Chances are though that after reading The Predicament you’ll want to try the first – it’s that good!

Set in the 1960s, Gabriel is quietly finishing off his book on rivers of the world and nursing his apparently unrequited passion for his enigmatic MI6 handler, Faith Green. He’s also got a Russian handler because Faith has turned him into a double agent and handler for a British spy who has ostensibly defected. When the CIA ask MI6 for a favour with a spot of business in Guatemala, Faith decides that Gabriel is the man. Reluctantly, Gabriel agrees to take the assignment – at least there is a river in Guatemala that he could pop in his book. While there, Gabriel meets some shady characters and the leader of a group hoping to overthrow the dictator. Returning to London via New York and another river, Gabriel is attacked by a man with a knife who is seriously injured after Gabriel rams his notebook up the assailant’s nose. How these and other incidents are all connected is slowly revealed.

William Boyd is a master storyteller, and I felt a profound disappointment when this book came to an end. Sadly, having finished this second instalment, I must now wait for the third – but great pleasure still awaits you.