Critically acclaimed on their original publication and adapted to the big screen, these four near-parodies of the British spy novel feature the caddish anti-hero Gerald Otley, who finds himself uprooted from his life as common conman and dropped into the role of super spy.

It starts as it always does for Gerald Otley, a petty theft gone wrong. But when the bodies of associates (Otley doesn't really have friends) start turning up dead, he suddenly finds himself caught in a much larger web than he imagined. Recruited by the alluring and enigmatic "Grace" and blackmailed into service, Otley finds himself playing at spy in a realm he only half understands. As readers soon find, it turns out that being a fast-talking conman is all it takes to succeed as a spy--as long as Grace is around to break bones and generally pull you out of the fire.