Quantum of Menace

Vaseem Khan

After Major Boothroyd (aka Q) is unexpectedly ousted from his role with British Intelligence developing technologies for MI6's Double O agents, he is adrift, unsure of his place in a world where the stakes aren't always life or death. But when he learns that his childhood friend, renowned quantum computer scientist Peter Napier, has died in mysterious circumstances, Q is drawn back to his sleepy hometown of Wickstone-on-Water. Frustrated by the police, who consider the case closed, Q is compelled to investigate, starting with a cryptic note Napier sent him on the day of his death. Q soon discovers that Napier's ground-breaking work may have attracted sinister forces... but can he decode the truth before danger closes in?

“Pay attention, 007 ... this is the story we always wanted, and Vaseem Khan tells it like the master he is - fast, wise, funny, suspenseful and highly recommended.”
— Lee Child

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vaseem Khan is the author of two award-winning crime series set in India, the Baby Ganesh Agency series set in modern Mumbai, and the Malabar House historical crime novels set in 1950s Bombay. He is also the author of The Girl in Cell A, a psychological thriller set in small town America. His first book, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels published 2015-2020, and is translated into 17 languages. In 2021, Midnight at Malabar House won the Crime Writers Association Historical Dagger. Vaseem was born in England, but spent a decade working in India. In 2006, he returned to the UK and joined University College London's Department of Security and Crime Science, where he has helped manage the Dawes Centre for Future Crime. In 2023, Vaseem was elected Chair of the UK Crime Writers' Association.