The Enigma Girl

In his ho-hum latest, Porter (the Paul Samson series) strands a winning protagonist in a saggy spy story. MI5 undercover agent Slim Parsons has been accused by her handlers of recklessness and nearly revealing her true identity during an investigation into master money launderer Ivan Guest. Knowing Guest will likely seek revenge for the disfiguring injuries he suffered at her hands, Parsons contemplates retiring so she can pursue her passion for archeology and take care of her aging mother. She’s shocked when she’s asked to go undercover again, this time to investigate how an online news operation called Middle Kingdom has been able to reveal public corruption and the misuse of taxpayer funds. Posing as a reporter, Parsons chases down unrelated scoops, pleasing her newsroom bosses but irritating her handlers at MI5. One of her stories puts her back in the crosshairs of Guest, who launches a violent campaign to hunt her down. Parsons leaps off the page, with cool intelligence and a flinty personality, but the action drags amid a tangle of subplots. Porter has done better before. Agent: Rebecca Wearmouth, Peters, Fraser, and Dunlop Literary. (Jan.)