But I Smile Anyway…

I am excited to be on the blog tour for Richard Robinson’s Deep Swimmers!

The Blurb

Belfast, 1995. When an elderly couple fall to their deaths from the city’s notorious Ashton Tower, the incident is quickly ruled a suicide. For most, it’s a tragedy. For British Intelligence, it’s the beginning of something far more dangerous.
Jones and Jenny, now seasoned members of MI5’s Young Communicators Unit, find themselves pulled into an investigation that reaches back to the Second World War. The case sees Jones return home to Suffolk, where he must handle a homeless republican veteran still hiding from something.
What begins as a routine inquiry soon exposes buried loyalties, forgotten operations, and a web of deception that comes to an extraordinary conclusion.
As police investigators, MI5 officers, and retired spymasters circle the truth, a Mossad agent opens old wounds. Someone is determined to keep the past buried, no matter the cost.
Set against the tense backdrop of 1990s Northern Ireland, Deep Swimmers is a gripping espionage thriller about the deadly legacy of covert lives and the price of keeping secrets.
Some falls are accidents. But hiding from the truth is a deadly game.

Purchase Link – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Swimmers-Topaz-Files-Book-ebook/dp/B0GHT8TRL6

https://linktr.ee/thetopazfiles

My Review

Deep Swimmers by Richard Robinson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Crime and espionage – not my usual go-to, but I was happy to read something different from my norm of culture, women’s fiction and romance!
Deep Swimmers is the fourth book in the Topaz Files series, and it was most definitely a gripping read that keeps the pages turning.
Since I hadn’t read the previous ones, I wasn’t privy to some of the earlier events that may have been referenced in Deep Swimmers, which did not detract from my enjoyment of this read.
Set in the 90s, with a tale of intrigue surrounding an elderly couple in Ireland, apparently committing suicide together… Or was it? Were they pushed?
That’s where the title Deep Swimmers comes from: those who may have had some connection to spy work but are no longer active are still recognised for the work they did.
The story may start there, but the reader is drawn into many more mysteries as connections between key characters and past events encroach upon their lives.
We have WW2 events entwined with more modern political issues in a delicate, but very clever way.
I really loved Jenny and Jones’ chemistry, and Mr Singh was a particular favourite!
If you love a bit of a mystery with espionage involvement, you will love this!

About The Author

Richard W. Robinson is an author and journalist and spent his early days freelancing or working in agency positions across the UK and Ireland. The Topaz Files is a series of spy fiction novels where we follow the missions of Jones and Richmond as they make their way through the early years of a career in espionage. The first, published in May 2023, is Topaz and this was followed by Wild Flowers a year later, The Mainstay and Deep Swimmers have since been published. The novels are works of fiction but reference historic events in 1994-1996, around the time of the peace talks in Northern Ireland.

Outside the literary world, Richard lives in East Anglia, England, with his wife and two daughters. He is the CEO of a charity focused on ending the abuse of older people. He’s a very committed cratedigger (vinyl collector) and can occasionally be seen in the stands at Loftus Road and Windsor Park. Look out for the Topaz Files on social media and for the forthcoming releases of SEEN/UNSEEN (book five) and The Rock Ledger (book six). Robinson has also finished a Cold War spy story called German Bite which is expected to be published in late 2026.

Website: https://www.thetopazfiles.com/

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE – https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Richard-Robinson/author/B0C8ZP6YHL

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Twitter at @TheTopazFiles

Richard on Instagram at @r_we_r

Email Richard at thewash_house@live.co.uk