Spies and other Gods by James Wolff. This spy thriller is set apart from others by being narrated by a kind of collective voice of MI5 - it’s the spies watching the spies. Sir William Rentoul, head of the service, takes great umbrage when an anonymous whistle-blower lays a complaint and a smart young parliamentary researcher is brought in to investigate. MI5 are particularly adept at ensuring she makes no progress, but she becomes a part of something much, much bigger, and which also gets Sir William back into the field after years driving an MI5 desk, with predictable results.

The Dead Speak by Thomas Coyle. The author learned the science and art of forensics with the Metropolitan police in the UK, before eventually moving to New Zealand, after which he became involved in victim identification after the Boxing Day tsunami, and the Christchurch earthquake in 2011. It’s a fascinating account about the training involved, and the painstaking processes which forensic investigators follow in the course of their critical work. It’s an easy read although as he says, not for the faint of heart, with a good dose of black humour. 

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