With the Nazis beaten and the Russians not yet acting up too much, British Agent Tommy Elphinstone Hambledon is at loose ends so he agrees to do a bit of undercover work for the police by posing as an inmate at one His Majesty’s prisons. It seems that lately an alarming number of prisoners have escaped, fueling suspicions that it’s an organized effort. Tommy and a fellow prisoner named Cobden substitute themselves for the next escapees and find themselves sailing across the nighttime skies of Britain in a hydrogen balloon. But when the gang behind the escapes tumbles to the substitution, thinking Tommy is a real crook with a hidden stash, they ask him to share his ill-gotten gains. Tommy, of course, declines, and before long bodies begin to pile up. Cobden, who’s a pretty decent sort for a crook, hooks Tommy up with another criminal organization, one that doesn’t go in for violence and often plays the role of modern Robin Hoods. The result is another witty series of misadventures for everyone’s favorite British spy. First published in 1948.

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