Under cover of being Master of a Cambridge College, Sir Iain Dalzell is head of a top British spy ring. His daughter Diana is captured by enemy agent General Hovaths.
Sir Iain orders lawyer and spy Philip West to escort a professional assassin, Morgan, back from Portugal to England. But West's assignment is not as easy as it appears.
Spy Philip West is sent by Sir Iain to investigate the disappearance of several British agents in Lisbon. But he is captured by the opposition and interrogated.
Philip West is detailed to locate an enemy agent who is planning the theft of a missile guidance system. His investigation takes him to Cornwall - and lobster pots.
Two agents from a spy-training centre are chosen for a ""suicide mission"". Are they trustworthy? And more important for Sir Iain - is the man who trained them to be trusted?
A Russian bomber jettisons two nuclear warheads just outside Bulgaria. Sir Iain is ordered to photograph the missiles before they are retrieved. But they are held in a maximum security police headquarters at the fishing village of Borku, and there is less than twenty four hours in which to act.
Penelope Blanchard, an elderly civil servant has assisted MI17 in the past. Now, asked to help again, she is strangely reluctant. Philip West has to find out why.
Philip West misses his opportunity to abduct the scientist Rena Szarvos en route to a conference. He is compelled to attempt the oldest approach - seduction. But others have similar ideas.
The pseudo-philosophical Society of Alpha trades in secrets and subversions, tapping the minds of its members by means of hypnosis. Philip West and Diana join the Society as part of their investigation.
Two theses, on which Doctor Petrie has based his reputation, are revealed as forgeries. He has been sponsored by Karl Dickinson, scientific benefactor, and Sir Iain suspects both men of not being what they seem.
Goric, a foreign agent, comes to Britain to attend a chess tournament where he will receive some top secret microfilm.
Unfortunately he becomes indisposed so Philip West goes in disguise - having hopefully brushed up on his knowledge of chess.
Vaslav Baroviev, a Russian writer visiting Cambridge, asks for asylum.
But Sir Iain soon discovers that there are people who wish to prevent his defection.