In The Villa Golitsyn two old schoolfellows are invited to Willy Ludley's villa in Nice. Willy's wife Priscilla needs their help because Willy appears to be drinking himself to death….

Before [Simon Milson] goes to Nice he is asked by his Foreign Office boss to discover from Ludley whether or not he was responsible for [an] act of treason back in 1963. The other suspect, Baldwin, is up for an important job and his name needs to be cleared before he gets it. Simon, who has little integrity, willingly agrees to spy on his old friend.

On the way to Nice Simon encounters a runaway English schoolgirl who joins the curious group of friends gathered around Willy at the Villa Golitsyn. Willy is a superbly drawn character. He is destructive, manipulative, witty and mesmerizing. He is also, Simon notes, obsessed by a sense of sin and guilt.

Piers Paul...