8.6 /10 1 Votes
4.7/5 e-Reading Series Harry Maxim Pages 255 pp Originally published 1982 Preceded by The Secret Servant Publisher Hodder & Stoughton | 3.9/5 Goodreads Language English Publication date 1982 ISBN 0-340-58865-9 Followed by The Crocus List Genres Thriller, Spy fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Media type Print (hardcover and paperback) Similar The Crocus List, The Secret Servant, Uncle Target, Blame the dead, Judas Country | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Conduct of Major Maxim is a third person narrative novel by English author Gavin Lyall, first published in 1982, and the second of his series of novels with the character “Harry Maxim” as the protagonist.
Contents
Plot introduction
Former SAS Major Harry Maxim is assigned to Number 10 Downing Street, where he works under George Harbinger, private secretary to the Prime Minister. Maxim is asked by a former colleague to assist Corporal Ron Blagg, who has gone AWOL from the British Army after assisting MI6 in a botched undercover operation. However, Maxim soon discovers that both MI6 and a shadowy Sovbloc service are looking for Blagg, with deadly consequences. Maxim's efforts to assist Blagg are stymied by a web of deceit and suspicion among the various offices and agencies within the British government, until he uncovers a secret from the darkest days of World War II so threatening to the leadership of the German Democratic Republic that they will kill to preserve it. The various settings for most of the action, housing projects in South London, a small rural town in Germany, and a fading port town in Humberside, are described in rich detail.
The growing romance
MI5 liaison Agnes Algar warms to Harry in this book, and provides invaluable assistance, but still tries to keep her distance from his domestic life.
Reviews
The Conduct of Major Maxim was the final installment in a series of novels based on a character originally developed for a projected BBC television series.