Book Review: Quantum of Menace
The announcement of Quantum of Menace put me in a quandry: I’d long desired a genre diversification of Bond but surely ‘cosy crime’ would be too quotidian for the exotic, fast-paced world of 007? And what of Q himself… how could a character whose page count has, to date, been barely quantifiable, sustain a whole novel? So, now that Vaseem Khan’s book is out in the open, have my qualms been qualified, or have they been rendered quiescent?
I have something to confess: I’m not the biggest fan of murder mysteries.
Massive apologies to the fans of this genre for beginning this review in the least apt way possible. After all, a murder mystery novel doesn’t usually begin with a confession, but more often than not ends with one (or more).
But I couldn’t in good conscience continue with my review of Vaseem Khan’s Quantum of Menace without first showing my hand. Incidentally, this is what would make me a rubbish murderer in real life. My overactive conscience and my chronic inability to lie are both factors which hold me back from becoming a homicidal maniac… that and the whole illegal aspect of course. But mostly my inability to lie. There is absolutely no chance I would get away with it.
My apathy towards the genre is not for want of trying. I’m not exactly a murder mystery ingénue. I’ve done my homework: I’ve read at least a dozen Agatha Christies, most of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and all of Raymond Chandler. I’ve even gone back to the source: Edgar Allan Poe’s The Murders In The Rue Morgue, widely considered the first modern detective story. I’ve sat through whole seasons of Murder, She Wrote with my bloodthirsty husband, who would happily make a full time job of watching (what I snarkily refer to as) ‘murder programmes’ if he could think of a way to monetise his grisly hobby.
It’s not that I don’t appreciate a good mystery either. I can admire all of the titles mentioned above as well-crafted pieces of art. And you could argue that even some of the Bond novels - Fleming’s as well as several written by continuation authors (especially Raymond’s Benson’s brilliant The Hook and the Eye) qualify as murder mysteries. There’s certainly no genre-based snobbery on my part.
My mild apprehension about murder mysteries boils down to my own inability to remember who the bloody hell everyone is and what their motivations are.
I know that’s the point: half-forgetting information which the mystery writer places in plain sight is, after all, integral to creating that feeling of satisfaction when the murderer (or murderers) is revealed. ‘If only,’ we tell ourselves, ‘we were as clever as the detective… they had all the same clues we did but we didn’t piece it together like they did!’
But I don’t just half-forget characters and motivations - I quite literally lose the plot, the characters and any semblance of what’s going on.
I feel somewhat ashamed to admit this - especially as someone with a first-class degree in English literature and linguistics (apologies to my alma mater) - but as soon as a book (any book for that matter, not just a murder mystery) involves more than half a dozen main characters, I have to start making a map. As in, a physical map on a piece of paper. These aide memoires include - as a minimum - short descriptions of characters’ defining features and arrows showing their connections with other characters. If I don’t do this, I waste so much time flicking back to earlier chapters, skim reading to remind myself of who the bloody hell this person is.
So when I first heard about Quantum of Menace, back in the summer of 2024, I started mentally preparing myself for the challenge.
I was so excited when the email arrived in my inbox telling me about the project. I vividly remember thinking ‘This is what I’ve been waiting for’. To be exact, I’ve long hankered for the diversification of Bond. And I don’t just mean in terms of the sorts of people - and their varied characteristics, reflective of real life - who get to save the world. I mean in terms of genre too. Why can’t there be horror stories, romance stories and, yes, even even murder mystery stories set in the world of 007?
But after the initial excitement following the announcement had subsided, I was increasingly starting to question whether I would be able to enjoy - not merely appreciate on an academic level - Khan’s novel.
By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail. So said Benjamin Franklin - allegedly. Whatever the source (personally, I first read this on a cat poster), it’s an adage which holds a lot of truth. So I set about preparing for Quantum of Menace by reading some of Vaseem Khan’s earlier works. Khan has penned two long-running series of novels, both with their own unique - but complementary - flavours: The Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series and the Malabar House series. The Baby Ganesh books are set in contemporary Mumbai and have the pleasingly surreal element of a baby elephant playing a significant role in the plots. The Malabar House series begins at a significant historical flashpoint - the independence of India - and centres around the first female detective in the Bombay (officially not renamed Mumbai until 1995) police force. What I particularly enjoyed about both series was their ability to blend tones, combining moments of laugh out loud levity with a righteous indignation at social injustices. I’ve always thought that the best Bond stories are those which successfully vacillate between tonal extremes. So having done my Vaseem Khan homework, I was only slightly less trepidatious about reading Quantum of Menace.
Even so, having received my proof copy, I went in armed. Piece of paper and pen at the ready, I ventured between the covers.
By the end of the first three chapters, I knew I was hooked. I raced through the rest of the book. I made a few notes, just in case, but I rarely had to refer back to them. Khan’s characters are so carefully drawn that there’s barely a chance of forgetting who is who.
Kim Sherwood’s Double O series has demolished the idea that a ‘Bond book’ without 007 as a main character can’t be utterly compelling. Quantum of Menace revels among the rubble. It signals that anything, from this point onwards, is possible.
As with Sherwood’s series, Bond is rarely far from characters’ thoughts. Hovering over the whole story is the question: What would James Bond do in this situation? This is the hook into the story for 007 fans, even those who don’t usually read murder mysteries. Barely a chapter goes by without Q wishing he was as cavalier as his favourite agent/irritant/friend. It speaks to a part of all of us, the part that wishes - even with his many flaws - we were as capable as 007. Khan’s Q is deeply, recognisably human. This is by far the most fleshed-out Major Boothroyd we’ve ever seen, in any incarnation.
The blurbs which pigeonholed Quantum of Menace as ‘cosy crime’ did nothing to alleviate my foreboding in the run up to publication. So when I actually got to read it, I was relieved to find the book contained liberally healthy doses of sex, violence and swearing. Midsomer Murders this ain't.
Simialrly, when I had first read the synopsis, I will confess (there I go again) that I’d thought Quantum of Menace might be simply too quotidian for the world of 007. A murder mystery in a sleepy English village is worlds away from the globe-trotting, world-saving exploits of our favourite superspy. But Khan cleverly connects the two worlds, taking every opportunity to show that they may not be as far apart as we might may think.
On this front, I daren’t say much more. At least one review in a major newspaper has revealed a significant spoiler for something which occurs two thirds of the way through the book. I shan’t do the same. But suffice it to say, when [redacted], it felt like it didn’t take anything away from the new characters and situations Khan had created. I was quite happy to continue spending time in the ‘cosy’ world of Wickstone-on-Water, even with the escalating body count.
By the end of the book, my paper map was criss-crossed with lines. Seeing it laid out like that, I was pretty sure I had it all cracked. Maybe, I thought, I'm getting wiser to this whole murder mystery genre... And then the resolution happened. Hmm, maybe not. I’d only partly solved it. Two steps forward, one step back. But the solution made complete, satisfying sense. All the pieces had been there in plain sight. I felt Q’s voice in my head… clearly, I hadn't been paying quite enough attention.
Fortunately, Quantum of Menace is a trilogy, so I'll have plenty more opportunities to hone my detective abilities. The second installment, The Man with the Golden Compass, is released next year. By the end of the third book I'll be a seasoned sleuth on a par with the finest: Poirot, Marple, Holmes, Fletcher, Columbo, Blanc… and Boothroyd.
