I’m not a big fan of police/ detective perspectives and I didn’t realise that this book was the third part in a series. It was alright, I mostly enjoyed it and I wanted to pick up the other books but I think you would benefit massively from reading the other books in the series first.

The third book in the series, Valley of Spies by Keith Yocum was a fantastic thriller.

In this book, an American woman vanishes in New Zealand,. There is no body, no witness and no motive. But what looks like a sad, unfortunate case of foul play, slowly turns into something darker. We find out that the missing tourist is a female psychologist under contract from the CIA to see employees in strictest confidence.

Highly recommend this book!

Dennis Cunningham has had an interesting life. A lifer at Langley, but he wasn’t a spy per se. The bulk of his time was spent in the Office of the Inspector General - CIA’s version of a police department’s Internal Affairs. He looked into Agency folks who went off the rails. When his wife died (an earlier book I assume), he became clinically depressed and went to Dr. Forrester, an Agency-approved clinical psychologist.

Now he’s been retired for about a year and living in Perth, Australia with Judy, an agent for the AFP – the Australian Federal Police (think Aussie FBI). He’s learning to love golf, Aussie Rules Football and cricket. He gets a call from Langley. He has been recommended (by Louise, an ambitious woman wanting to become the first female director of operations) to be an impartial investigator into the disappearance of Dr. Forrester. Seems she was in New Zealand for a conference and simply disappeared. This initial investigation targets an Iranian couple thought to be manning a NZ-based listening post. The new Director of the CIA wants independent confirmation before approving retaliation on the Irani Intelligence directorate (meaning, you took one of ours, we are coming for 6 of yours). His Agency contact is Philip Simpson, Deputy Chief of Operations. A guy Dennis has not love for.

Oh, and by the way, he has all of 2 weeks to submit a report.

He starts out with what the Kiwis found and starts to wonder if Dr. Forrester’s disappearance was less about intelligence and more about her other Agency clients. He hops a flight to DC over Simpsons objections. In DC he meets up with Forrester’s husband, Louise, Simpson, and some former friends at CIA. Each time he thinks he has a lead, it dries up. Then, he disappears, and Judy’s paranoia meter redlines and she too heads to DC to find out what happened to Dennis. Whether Forrester’s disappearance is solved is not Judy’s concern.

This is the first book by Yocum that I have read and I must say that I’m very impressed. Cunningham and Judy are an engaging couple and the plot is exceedingly complex. Friends are not so friendly and former enemies just might turn out to be important friends. There appear to be 2 or 3 other Cunningham books as well as a couple standalones set in Vietnam and the Civil War. From where I sit right now, I think Yocum is definitely worth a further look.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

ECD

Dennis has retired from the CIA and is a little bored but enjoying living in Australia where he can be near Judy who is a cop as in Perth, like our FBI. He is asked to go back to work for two weeks as a contractor to look into the disappearance of the Psychologist that worked independently but did see some of the CIA employees in her caseload. Dr Forrester has disappeared in New Zealand where she was attending a conference. The agency wants him to believe some Iranians are behind it but Dennis wants to look at the whole picture. He goes back to Washington DC and finds her case files have disappeared. Things start happening and everything becomes upside down. Dennis is accused of murder and Judy comes to help. The further you read the more intense the story gets.

Valley of Spies is the third instalment in the Dennis Cunningham thriller series, and the first book that I have read by Keith Yocum. I found that I had no issues following the story. Well-written and plenty of suspense and intrique. I enjoyed this story and will be looking for the previous books in the series as well as looking for the next installment when it comes out. I received an ARC from NetGalley.

Valley of Spies is the third instalment in the Dennis Cunningham thriller series, but each works fine on its own and they do not necessarily have to be read in order. CIA agent and intrepid investigator Cunningham is bummed to have been called out of early retirement in sunny Oz to look into the disappearance of another CIA asset whilst on holiday in New Zealand. There is barely any information available beyond the fact that we know she is missing. What worries authorities back in America is that the woman is a psychologist hired by the CIA to see their employees in complete secrecy. But is this an attempt at international espionage or merely a run-of-the-mill missing person/possible murder case?

If there was ever a case to illustrate how we should all be reading more indie and self-published books then this is it. Keith Yocum is a storyteller of note who knows how to hook readers in and then keep them interested. There is plenty of intrigue, just as there should be in a book like this, and it's taut, tense and features great, detailed characters. This is the best instalment yet and we get to spend a little more time with the engaging Dennis. The writing and plot are both solid and the characters fascinating. This is a thoroughly entertaining and very readable series. I look forward to picking up the next instalment, and kudos to Kirkus for highlighting this in their best indie reads for the month of July. Many thanks to Keith Yocum for an ARC.

Despite the improbable ending, I found this book to be a good read. The characters were well-drawn, the plot was interesting and held my attention, and the action worked.