Synopsis:

British spy Emma Makepeace goes undercover on a Russian oligarch’s superyacht, where she’s one wrong move away from a watery grave, in this electrifying thriller from the author of Alias Emma.

An MI6 operative is found dead, locked in a suitcase inside his own apartment. Despite an exhaustive search, no fingerprints are found at the scene. Emma Makepeace and her handler, Ripley, know an assassination when they see one, and such an obvious murder can mean only one Someone is sending a message.

As she digs into his past, Emma discovers that the unfortunate spy had been investigating two Russian oligarchs based in London. He’d become obsessed with the idea that the two were spies, aided by a third man—whose identity he had yet to uncover. When he shared his findings within MI6 in the weeks before he died, the response came back fast and Drop the investigation and move on. Had he uncovered a secret that cost him his life?

To pick up where he left off without ending up in a suitcase of her own, Emma goes undercover on one of the oligarch’s million-dollar yachts, scheduled to set sail from the Côte d’Azur to Monaco. Under other circumstances, this would be a dream vacation. But if Emma’s real identity gets discovered, it’s a death sentence.

As Emma’s work reveals secrets she’d be safer not knowing, the danger ratchets up. The killer may be closer to home than any of them imagined, and Emma won’t be safe until he—or she—is caught.

The Traitor is the second installment in the thrilling British female-spy novels featuring Emma Makepeace by Ava Glass. As a child in the 1980s, I grew up watching James Bond films with my parents, and there’s something nostalgic about Emma for me. I know what I’m getting with this character and it’s a smart, action-packed adventure!

When we meet Emma in Alias Emma (My Review), the action is contained to the streets of London as she attempts to safely deliver Michael Primalov, the son of former spies, while remaining unseen by the Russian-hacked security cameras across town. In The Traitor, Emma goes undercover on a Russian oligarch’s superyacht. After a fellow MI6 operative’s gruesome murder, the team suspects they have a traitor, and they know they’re somehow linked to the owner of the superyacht. Emma takes on the dangerous and deadly task of working alone while cruising around the south of France, with stops in Nice and Monaco, knowing if she’s discovered, the results will be deadly.

“Russia never forgives or forgets. And neither did Emma.”

Ava Glass, The Traitor

Having recently read the romance series Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships by Sarah Grunder Ruiz, where the characters are employees on a superyacht, I knew I enjoyed this setting, so when I learned the bulk of The Traitor takes place on a superyacht, I was even more excited. While they’re completely different genres, it still felt familiar and now I want more books with a nautical setting.

Glass does a wonderful job of keeping the tension taut, never letting the setting grow repetitive, bringing me back to the book excited to continue Emma’s story.