Modesty Blaise

In the beginning there was Modesty. Cooler than the pretentious James Bond, tougher than the brain-dead Mike Hammer – Lauren Henderson, author of Dead White FemaleThese books are the finest escapist thrillers ever written * The Times *Before Buffy, before Charlie’s Angels, before Purdy and Emma Peel there was Modesty Blaise. For almost 40 years, Peter O’Donnell’s iconic heroine drop-kicked her way through a swath of villains and into a unique place in popular culture * Observer *One of the great partnerships in fiction, bearing comparison with that of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson – Kingsley AmisO’Donnell is one of those rare popular writers, like Josephine Tey or P.G. Wodehouse, who inspire not just fandom but love * New York Times Book Review *Modesty Blaise was the comic-strip criminal genius, turned occasional secret service operative, who managed to combine timeless beauty and elegance with the ability to break every bone in your body… there’s never been a better time to become acquainted * The Crack *The continuing renaissance of the immortal heroine: thrilling, humorous and timeless adventures, the Modesty Blaise series are seminal British crime novels * Crime Time *The stories of Modesty are better than James Bond and funnier * Tribune *

Peter O’Donnell created Modesty Blaise as a strip cartoon that was syndicated in more than 42 countries. The strip led to a series of novels about Modesty and her faithful lieutenant, Willie Garvin.