BOTTOM LINE: #2 of 3 Luke Pagan, MO5, rural Suffolk 1906 and London 1912; gentle thriller. Edwardian intelligence officer and some very nasty spies pre-WW1. Convoluted tale of poor folks in London who want change and are willing to work for it, and of spies from other countries who want to cripple England for their own nefarious purposes. Main Characters: Luke Pagan, police constable and then intelligence operative for British Intelligence just prior to World War 1; his best friend policeman Joe Narrabone, a hard-headed, hard drinking rival from home; numerous Russian spies and Jewish emigres, local merchants and neighborhood gangs. Starting with some of the experiences that made Luke the man he has become and working its way through his beginnings as a policeman into his first job with the new intelligence force MO5, this emerges half-way along as a convoluted tale of poor folks in London who want change and are willing to work for it. And of spies from other countries who want to cripple England for their own nefarious purposes. How the various clamoring groups intertwine is rather nicely done, and the different approaches of the characters to their lots in life are clearly set out, but most of the secondary characters are merely sketched in.Luke and his best friend Joe are very well-drawn, though, as is an elderly man who gets caught in a web of conspiracies. They come to life on the page and reflect Mr. Gilbert's ability to create memorable characters, so clearly evidenced in his Calder and Behrens short stories, some of my favorites of the spy genre. This earlier tale is far less brutal and pragmatic about bad things in life, and reflects some of the mindset of the period. Beautifully, if slowly, wrought tale of the appealing Luke Pagan, a nice boy from the country with a gift for languages, who moves from police constable to espionage work and enjoys it very much. This nostalgic, almost tone-poem to the Edwardian mind-set was one of Gilbert's last works, and while the plot is quite simplistic the characters and settings are superb. Not really thrilling, but a very enjoyable read, that transported me into another world for a little while.
