The plot is a familiar template - rich, megalomaniac with radical ideas; tough, ruthless seemingly unbeatable henchman; secluded/protected enemy lair. Oh, and don't forget the girl who has her own strong and independent nature. The new 007 story, “On His Majesty’s Secret Service,” brings Bond into the present day. It is May 4, two days before the coronation of King Charles III. Bond is sent at the last minute to thwart an attempt to disrupt the coronation by the wealthy, eccentric and self-styled Athelstan of Wessex, who is on a deadly mission of his own to teach the United Kingdom a lesson. Bond must dismantle his shady plans and defeat his privately hired team of mercenaries. That said, Higson makes a good fist of this. He doesn't try too hard, doesn't get overly bogged down by it. (His Bond is neither quite Fleming's, nor a grown-up version of his own young James Bond, but does work okay). The plot is very Fleming, though -and the villain too probably (although he was also quite Gardner-esque and at times this reminded me of Licence Renewed). There's some good twists and its a much better read than anything by Benson, or the Bond books of Faulks, Boyd and Deaver.

Higson, who lives with his family in north London, makes it sound easy, and, in truth, the new book zips along with a lovely lightness of touch, but that’s not to dismiss his writing. His Bond Girl, incidentally, is an Icelandic beauty named Ragnheidour. The voice and character of Bond comes across as mostly authentic but there are also some lines that made me cringe, and not in a fun Roger Moore way. I found myself re-reading them because I found them jarring and didn’t necessarily sound like something Bond would say. The original plan was for royalties to support The Prince’s Trust and Camilla’s Reading Room literacy charity, but Higson’s regicidal plot – featuring a wealthy, eccentric and anti-‘woke’ wannabe king called Athelstan of Wessex, allegedly a descendent of Alfred the Great – ruled out an official tie-in. But how did he create something fresh and interesting and still make 007 recognisable as Fleming’s Bond?Indeed, his next book was On Her Majesty’s Secret service, considered by fans to be one of his best. But the author, who died aged 56 in August 1964, was trapped by his creation. It’s a short read but I had to force myself to keep reading bit by bit, it was a chore, mostly down to the villain and his entourage. The female interest was IMO well written and the most engaging character next to Bond, there was also some surprising character choices towards the end with Bond that I liked, there was also a copy / homage of From Russia With Love towards the end which I didn’t like and made me roll my eyes. Charles is apparently a big fan of the Bond books and there was that great moment at the 2012 Olympics where the Queen and 007 came together – our two greatest cultural icons united – so that was the obvious place to start.” My feeling is, as long as James Bond does the things he does and you have enough of the iconography around him, then you can update him and modernise him.”

In this story a megalomaniac is hellbent on destroying the royal line with Charles III and having him regain the throne because he was somehow related to some ancient king in the 12th century. It’s On His Majesty’s Secret Service; it’s being published two days before the coronation. Otherwise, Bond just goes on a mission as usual, working for ‘King and Country’. This just felt like such a great story, so rich in possibilities. They didn’t argue, and no one had any problems with it; the charities just couldn’t be associated.” The best-selling author has also slammed the last Bond film, No Time To Die. Speaking with The Sunday Times, Higson shared his feelings about the modern James Bond movies:If I was trapped by a rabid monarchist who was trying to persuade me I should pledge my allegiance to the king, I could easily come up with an anti-monarchist argument. I'm a big Bond fan and I've enjoyed all the continuation novels and this was an enjoyable way to pass the time but it wasn't great, special, engrossing or particularly well written (the author has done much better and so has basically every Bond author at some point). Happy birthday 007 and May you return soon from the pen of decent writer of the same or better quality than Charlie Higson, which would spoil us literary fans a lot. Charlie Higsons Beiträge zur Bond-Literatur bestanden bisher vor allem in den den sehr gelungenen Young Bond-Romanen. Mit In His Majesty's Secret Service steuert er nun eine Fortsetzung der Flemingschen Bond-Romane bei, der mittlerweile zehnte Autor, der von den Fleming-Erben diese Aufgabe übertragen bekommen hat, nach Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, dem grandiosen Raymond Benson, Arthur Horowitz, Jeffery Deaver, Sebastian Faulks, William Boyd, Steve Cole und Kim Sherwood.

The Telegraph revealed that a number of racial references from Fleming’s ahead of the republication of his espionage thrillers following a review by sensitivity readers.

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News of the publication of the new Bond book comes after controversy regarding rewrites to the original run of spy novels. Corinne Turner, managing director of Ian Fleming Publications, said the book would be the publisher’s own way of marking both the coronation of Charles, and 60 years since the publication of Fleming’s thriller Her Majesty's Secret Service, from which the new volume derives its name.