I admit that my enjoyment of this particular story might be a personal preference. Before finding Charles Cumming I read a lot of Kevin Wignall's books, at least the ones dealing with spies. They often deal with former spies or disgraced spies who one way or another get drawn back into things. I guess I like that they aren't straight forward spy stories, but stories of private citizens trying to figure out a mystery. I didn't realize that this was book 2 of a series, so I read this out of order. But it does stand pretty well on its own. I know a lot of the critical reviews don't like the long (and to them, meandering) story of him in the early part of the novel. He then visits Basque country and goes through a whole discussion about recent Basque history. But what I loved is that the main character, who narrates the book, doesn't know who to trust. He keeps wondering if there are connections between his past and the people he knows in Madrid or those he meets along the way. I personally loved the development of the story that keeps you guessing and wondering what is up and what might be going on.