His own telephone is black, with a rotary dial, and lives on a table, but he is one of those rare creatures who recognises that even those technological developments in which he himself has neither interest nor investment might yet be of value to others, and he is perfectly content to allow them to indulge themselves. But under the hat, under the coat, under the wealth of whiskers, Solomon carries the memory of tradecraft in his bones, and those bones are rattled now by more than the winter wind. Solomon Dortmund can never pick up its menu without feeling that life--even one as long as his--holds some consolati ons; can never put it down again without inner turmoil having rag ed. Secure at his table, he surveys the congregation sparse today, but other people, however few in number, always command Solomon’s interest, for Solomon is a people-watcher, always has been, always will be.

The Marylebone Drop: A Novella (Slough House) by - Biblio The Marylebone Drop: A Novella (Slough House) by - Biblio

But in relaying his susp icions to John Bachelor, who babysits retired spies like Solly fo r MI5, he sets in motion a train of events that will alter lives. Seasoned Park watchers later said that the affair really began in Fischer’s, that beloved “café and konditorei” that bestows a touch of early twentieth-century Vienna on the foothills of twenty-first-century Marylebone High Street; its warm interior, its spring yellows and glazed browns, a welcome refuge from the winter-drizzled pavements.The meeting at the Park might well have occurred earlier than the drop on Maryle bone High, but that was a detail only, and when the time came for the whole business to be black-ribboned and consigned to the arc hive, nobody would care that a strip-lit office with functional f urniture had been where the starting pistol was fired.

The Marylebone Drop (Slough House Novella)|Paperback The Marylebone Drop (Slough House Novella)|Paperback

How could that not set the heart rac ing, with its enticing umlauts, its brazen italics, its artfully roman coupes? His life having embraced many people who disapp eared too soon, he is attentive to those who remain within sight, which today include an elderly pair sitting beneath the clock, a nd whose conversation, he feels, will mirror that device's progre ss, being equally regular, equally familiar, equally unlikely to surprise; three intense young men, heavily bearded, discussing po litics (he hopes), or at least literature, or chess; and a pair o f women in their forties who are absorbed in something one of the m has summoned up on her telephone. To anyone watching as he heads for th e outside world, he is no more than old-fashioned clothing on a s ticklike frame; a judgement he would accept without demur. And his appearance is insta ntly celebrated: he is greeted by name by a friendly young waiter , he is guided to a table, he is assured that his chocolate has s o nearly arrived that he might as well be dabbing a napkin to his lips already. The young woman is so rting through correspondence, which gives Solomon a little flush of pleasure, for who today, young or old, sorts through correspon dence?To his left, by the window, is a young blonde woman, and Solom on allows his gaze to linger on her, for this young woman is very attractive, in today's idiom; beautiful in Solomon's own, for So lomon is too old to pay heed to the ebb and flow of linguistic fa shion, and he knows beauty when he sees it. Through the momentarily open door intrude the mid-morning sounds of Marylebone High: a passing taxi, a skirl of laughter, the rumble of London. Peter Kahlmann (who's actually just a cover identity for Martin Kreutzmer) is Weiss’s BND handler, who’s far more competent than Pynne or Bachelor.

The Marylebone Drop: A Novella (Slough House) Kindle Edition

But this young lady has a number of envelopes in front of he r; brown envelopes of the size codified as C5 (Solomon Dortmund k nows his stationery). Hannah’s boss appears to be sexually harassing her, but Hannah - a Triple Agent - is lying in an attempt to get a role that’s more useful to her BND handlers. Through the momentarily open door intrude th e mid-morning sounds of Marylebone High: a passing taxi, a skirl of laughter, the rumble of London. Old spooks carry the memory of tradecraft in their bones, and when Solomon Dortmund sees an envelope being passed from one pair of hands to another in a Marylebone cafe, he knows hes witnessed more than an innocent encounter. His work has wo n the CWA Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel, the Steel Dagger for Best Thriller, and the Ellery Queen Readers Award, and been nomin ated for the Macavity, Barry, Shamus, and Theakstons Novel of the Year Awards.

The Bad Guy Wins: By the end of the story Solomon’s dead, Alec Wicinski’s been framed for possession of child-porn and MI5 has moved Hannah Weiss to the Brexit office, still unaware that she’s a BND triple agent. Such contemplation happily consumes the time needed to prepare his chocolate, for here comes the waiter already, and soon all is neatly arranged in front of him: cup, saucer, spoon, napkin; the elements of ritual as important as the beverage itself. But it is a small moment of pleasure in a world more commonly disposed to pain, and is to be treasured. iBooks currently doesn’t list this novella as part of the series, but hopefully they will correct that soon.