Books like “The Secret Agent”

What to read after “The Secret Agent” by Joseph Conrad: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
John le Carré · 1974
From the same world: “Spy Thriller”
After a mission fails, George Smiley is quietly brought back to find a Soviet mole inside British intelligence. Working from old files and a few wary colleagues, he sifts the careers of his former friends to discover which of them is the traitor.
2
Red Sparrow
Jason Matthews · 2013
From the same world: “Spy Thriller”
- Spy Thriller
- Morally Grey Character
Dominika Egorova, a Russian intelligence officer trained to seduce targets, is ordered to work against a CIA agent, Nathaniel Nash. As their operations and their feelings become entangled, both sides begin to suspect that someone is betraying the other.
3
The House of Silk
Anthony Horowitz · 2011
Similar setting: “Victorian London Atmosphere”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
Sherlock Holmes is asked to guard a London art dealer who is being followed, and the case opens onto two mysteries: a gang known as the House of Silk, and a crime so dangerous that Watson can only set it down years later, in a final untold adventure.
4
The Alice Network
Kate Quinn · 2017
From the same world: “Spy Thriller”
- Spy Thriller
- Betrayal
In 1947, pregnant and unmarried Charlie follows a lead about her missing cousin to a ruined woman in London. Their search draws on the story of Eve, a spy who ran a network in occupied France during the First World War, and the betrayals that broke it.
5
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle · 1892
Similar setting: “Victorian London Atmosphere”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
Twelve stories follow London's most observant detective and his friend Dr Watson as they untangle impossible crimes, strange clients and quiet suburban mysteries from their rooms on Baker Street.
6
Code Name Verity
Elizabeth Wein · 2012
From the same world: “Spy Thriller”
- Spy Thriller
A British wireless operator and a pilot become close friends before a mission goes wrong over occupied France. Captured by the Gestapo, the operator is forced to write down what she knows, and her account of the two women slowly reveals more than it first seems.
7
The Rook
Daniel O'Malley · 2012
From the same world: “Spy Thriller”
- Spy Thriller
- Betrayal
A woman wakes in a London park with no memory, surrounded by bodies, holding a letter from her former self. It explains that she is an officer in a secret agency guarding Britain from supernatural threats. To find the traitor who tried to kill her, she must live a stranger's life.
8
The War of the Worlds
H. G. Wells · 1898
Similar setting: “Victorian London Atmosphere”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
Cylinders fall from Mars onto the English countryside, and the machines inside prove ruthlessly hostile. A student watches the invasion spread toward London as orderly Victorian society collapses around him.
9
A Memory Called Empire
Arkady Martine · 2019
From the same world: “Spy Thriller”
- Spy Thriller
- Betrayal
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives at the heart of the Teixcalaanli Empire to replace a predecessor who died under unclear circumstances. Guided by his recorded memories, she must survive court politics, assassins, and a capital that hides its own plans.
10
The Beetle
Richard Marsh · 1897
Similar setting: “Victorian London Atmosphere”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
A strange, insect-like creature arrives in London bent on revenge against a member of Parliament, and its powers reach into the lives of everyone near him. The story is told through several witnesses who each encounter the being and try to stop it.
11
The Woman in White
Wilkie Collins · 1859
Similar setting: “Victorian London Atmosphere”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
Walking home one night, Walter Hartright meets a terrified woman dressed all in white. Her story draws him into the household of Limmeridge and a conspiracy of forged identities, hidden marriages and a locked asylum, as he tries to uncover what happened to her.
12
A Study in Scarlet Women
Sherry Thomas · 2016
Similar setting: “Victorian London Atmosphere”
- Victorian London Atmosphere
Too clever for Victorian society and blamed when three people die, Charlotte Holmes flees to London and takes the name Sherlock Holmes. With a kind widow, a police inspector and a man who loves her, she works the case while hiding who she really is.