On paper the The Irregular sounds like a winner; former leader of Sherlock Holmes’ Baker Street Irregulars, now grown up, is recruited to spy for the British Government newly formed intelligence agency in the run up to the First World War. It seems to promise old fashioned, escapist espionage adventure, along the lines of the 39 Steps, with plenty of action and intrigue.

Instead what we get is book that doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. At times it seems to be a piece of escapist adventure, with Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in walk on parts, the fate of the Empire potentially at stake and a hero with almost superhuman powers of observation and deduction. At others it becomes a serious drama, based around real events and featuring real people such as Winston Churchill, with flawed, human characters motivated by often prosaic concerns.

The constant switching between these two identities leaves the book feeling disjointed and lacking a clear identity, making it hard to fully engage with. This is a shame, because there are some good things on offer. Wiggins, the eponymous Irregular, is a promising lead character, and his boss Kell is allowed to be more than the typical stiff backed CO dolling out orders and displeasure in equal measure. Action, when it occurs, is well written and punchy. The espionage elements of the plot involving attempts by the other Great Powers to steal British military technology provide the requisite intrigue, even if they are slightly undercooked. The period setting, and especially London itself, provide plenty of atmosphere.

What’s less successful are what I would describe as the more serious, ‘soapier’ parts of the story. The romantic subplot for example, never fully convinces, feeling too manufactured for the sake of the plot, with its ultimate conclusion entirely predictable from some way out. Equally the attempts to shoehorn in real events, or at least variations on them, don’t fit entirely comfortably with the more escapist parts of the plot. When in the final pages of the book the author suddenly sets up links to another well-known but entirely fictional British spy, the disconnect between this side of the book and the parts set amongst the real life slums of East End London in the early 20th century could not be starker.

Had Lyle crafted a more streamlined story with a more consistent identity I suspect that The Irregular would have been a far more satisfying read. Instead what we have here is an origin tale that seems in search of the right tone and focus, finding both only sporadically. As the opening episode of an ongoing series it probably does enough to make some readers come back for more, but the next instalment really needs to lock down a clear identity for the ongoing adventures of The Irregular.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an advance copy of of The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy, the first in a new series of pre-WW1 spy stories which weaves real people and events into a fictional narrative.

Britain is in turmoil with Russian anarchists causing mayhem and a war with Germany looming, not that most politicians believe it. Captain Vernon Kell of military intelligence has a problem. He believes that there are German industrial spies stealing Britain's latest technology but he can't prove it although the murder of his his two best agents adds to his suspicions. He is in a catch 22 situation as with no proof he can't get the funds to do a proper investigation. On the advice of Sherlock Holmes he takes a radical approach and tries to recruit Wiggins, not at all their usual employee. As a child Wiggins used to be a Baker Street Irregular working for Sherlock Holmes but he grew up, joined the army and now, in 1909, he is down on his luck working as a debt collector. He turns them down flat until it suits him and then he brings his own style to "the game".

I thoroughly enjoyed The Irregular with its unusual premise, clever plotting and action. It is an interesting and unusual approach to have a working class spy and protagonist in that era when it was all about the right schools and connections. It works really well and brings a freshness and different slant to the historical detail, some of which I was aware of and some of it new. The plotting is clever, plausible and has plenty of twists and turns. I got really caught up in it all and couldn't turn the pages fast enough to see what was coming. The last few lines of the novel are amazing in their cleverness and I couldn't help laughing as I read them. They leave a positive vibe.

The Irregular is not a novel for the faint hearted. It has a fair amount of violence and bad language, none of it offensive or gratuitous, rather a reflection of the rough setting of the novel. I only make this point as most of the historical crime novels set around this period that I have read tend towards cosiness.

Wiggins is an interesting character and a good protagonist. He is confident in himself and a bit of socialist so he's not one for tugging his forelock and sees himself as an equal of any man. This makes for some interesting encounters with Captain Kell. His patriotism and ability to do his job are not in doubt and most of the action comes from this as he uncovers more than one nest of vipers. On a more light hearted note he has Sherlock Holmes's ability to analyse people through observation.

On the whole the author is good on the period detail but every so often some modern sensibilities slip in like Captain Kell's reluctance to break the law.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Irregular and look forward to reading more in the series so I have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.

granted I could read absolutely anything in with Sherlock Holmes appears (and he does appear here, albeit retired) but to get up close to one of the Irregulars, and involve him in an affair of the Empire - and for added pleasure and gravitas, Churchill appears too! ... is a sensational idea. I loved it. Wiggins, a now grown-up Irregular of Holmes's original street-child gang of helpers, is a fully drawn up character - brilliant and street-smart and even in love with an unusual woman. the spying is in early stages of British services and so it's still inept and unrecognised as an important branch of foreign policy - Holmes and Wiggins see its importance, and after some slightly dampened murders of early operatives (they are probably not as expert as we'd expect them to be now), and an attack on the head man Kells himself (who is having wife-troubles since she's a suffragette) takes us into parts of London where immigrants live an awful, poverty-stricken and violent life. this is rich and entertaining and I trust the first of many featuring the Irregulars.