DESPERATE SPIES

A spry septuagenarian agent springs back into action to nail some Russian villains.

Eighteen years ago, a Russian gangster posing as a FedEx driver shot and killed young Kathy Bagatelos, the daughter of mob lawyer Tony Bagatelos, wounding veteran FBI agent Ethel Fiona Crestwater in the process. Ethel retired shortly afterward but unofficially remained in the spy game. The old case comes up during a meeting at Pentagon City Mall among Ethel; her double-first-cousin-twice-removed and protégé, American University computer science student Jesse Cooper; and her friend Cassandra “CiCi” Crawford, an FBI agent. Ethel had instructed Jesse to tail CiCi without revealing who she was, as part of his spycraft training. Once the exercise ends and the three sit down for tea, CiCi confides that Tony, who regularly keeps Ethel in the loop with intel, is her confidential informant. Meanwhile, the recent release from prison of vengeful Russian mobster Mikhail Golubev has put a target on Ethel’s back. That’s more than personally dangerous, for much of CiCi’s success comes from Ethel’s maneuvers. When Tony is murdered, Ethel immediately begins investigating. De Castrique’s third Secret Lives mystery is fearsomely complicated, with additional characters tossed into the mix every few chapters. There’s FBI Director Rudy Hauser, sketchy Sen. Herman Wilkes, Arlington Police Chief Frank Mancini, and a whole clutch of Russian bad guys. They feel authentic and give the peppy yarn the illusion of forward motion, but mostly provide palate cleansing between the delightful chapters showing the indomitable Ethel at work. The blossoming relationship between Jesse and Ethel, introduced in the series’ first installment, Secret Lives (2022), augurs well for Jesse’s prospects with the FBI.

A lively mystery with a droll dynamic duo at its core.