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It is the early post-Cold War era. Tim Cranmer, our protagonist, is another retired spook in Le Carré’s world of retired spies. In this case he is forced into retirement with dignity—a dignity that of a sudden becomes questionable when he is suddenly the subject of a police probe into money laundering and filtering her majesty’s filthy lucre into channels that are allegedly favorable to his our interests. Quite a conundrum, as he is quite innocent! So begins his search for one of his former operatives—a friend who, it seems, must be at the center of his dilemma. All of the secret-service agent stuff is here, all the interrogations, all of the loose paper trails, all of the innuendo, as well as all of the ennui associated with being a good undercover agent, or investigator. Somewhere in the middle, the book seemed, to me, to drag on; but then it picked up the pace again, until near the end as he gets close on his friend’s (the operative) trail. Many readers may not be satisfied with the cliff-hanger ending though; one must interpolate the end for ones self.

I've never read a John LeCarre I didn't enjoy tremendously.

Tim Cranmer accepts early retirement and settles in rural England with his young mistress when lifelong rival Larry Pettifer disappears and Cranmer is suddenly on the run.