In the heart of Rome, a deadly game of cat and mouse unfolds, where betrayal lurks in the shadows of diplomacy.

When a British intelligence officer is assassinated during a high-stakes meeting with a KGB defector, the cryptic clue he leaves behind – "a spy in the British Embassy in Rome" – sets off a chain reaction of suspicion and subterfuge.

Peter Craig, a seasoned police officer with a knack for untangling complex cases, is thrust into the world of espionage. Tasked with identifying the mole within the embassy walls, Craig must navigate the delicate world of diplomatic protocol while discreetly investigating his colleagues.

As Craig sifts through classified documents and observes the embassy staff, he uncovers a web of secrets, hidden agendas, and dangerous liaisons. Time is of the essence, as the KGB closes in, determined to protect their asset and eliminate anyone who threatens their operation. With the help of a charismatic Italian contact and the reluctant support of the British Ambassador, Craig must expose the traitor before their treachery has deadly consequences.

Praise for Kenneth Benton and Spy in Chancery

“Benton is one of those leisurely Englishmen who has a civilised, cultured style, and who knows how to get the reader involved in a complicated chess game of competing spy agencies. It is almost a case-history he has written, except that the characters are firmly drawn. The heroics are no less vital for being unostentatious.”
--New York Times Book Review, 1973

“It is agreeable in any book, more particularly, for some reason, in a thriller, to be able to say, ‘Clearly this chap knows what he is talking about. He is allowing us into a private kingdom of which he has the key.’ As with Dick Francis in the world of racing or Emma Lathen in the world of Wall Street, so with Kenneth Benton in what is now comprehensively called the Foreign Service."
--Michael Gilbert, CBE, novelist and founder-member of the Crime Writers' Association

“There are some excellent character sketches, including the ambassador, who develops a liking for what he calls ‘this sordid intelligence business’, and excitement depends, not on sex or violence, but solely on the development of the plot.”
--Daily Telegraph, 1972

“Kenneth Benton generates genuine cloak-and-dagger espionage excitement.”
-- Columbus, Ohio Dispatch, 1973

“The intrigue is sophisticated, the reader’s mind is sent on a false track on the first page, and there is a train of delightful move and counter-move.”
-- Lancashire Evening Post, 1972

“Benton has a way of thinking up new twists and keeping secrets which would in any case set this well-paced yarn above most of the field.”
-- San Francisco Sunday Examiner, 1974