The Untouchable

Victor Maskell, formerly of British intelligence, for many years art expert to the Queen, has been unmasked as a Russian agent and subjected to a disgrace that is almost a kind of death. But at whose instigation? As Maskell attempts to come to terms with what has happened to his life, he embarks on his memoirs, retracing his tortuous path from his recruitment at Cambridge to the airless upper regions of the establishment. Beautifully written, filled with convincing fictional portraits of Maskells co-conspirators, and vibrant with the mysteries of loyalty and identity, The Untouchable places John Banville in the select company of both Conrad and le Carr.