Classic espionage thriller

The Thirty-Nine Steps

by John Buchan

Bored expatriate Richard Hannay returns to London and is approached by a frightened stranger who claims to have uncovered an international conspiracy. When the man is murdered in Hannay's flat, Hannay flees toward Scotland with both police and foreign agents pursuing him. A coded notebook and his talent for disguise become essential to exposing the Thirty-Nine Steps before a secret with wartime consequences leaves Britain. Brisk and foundational, this early espionage thriller suits readers who enjoy innocent men on the run, Scottish moors, disguises, pre-World-War-I intrigue, and compact adventures whose chase structure influenced generations of later spy fiction.