The Sunday supplement: No. 69

Spy novels for fans of John le Carré or Mick Herron, a smartphone app to defeat jetlag, a favorite album of piano music, lots more

How to stay awake on a transcontinental flight, or, “The Liz Carlyle Collection” by Stella Rimington

Traveling has a lot of downtime. For me, spy novels are great filler – plot, adventure, style, intrigue. I’m a John le Carré completist, same for Mick Herron, among others. Which led me to discover Stella Rimington recently and her Liz Carlyle thrillers, several of which I downloaded to my Kindle before boarding the plane to Paris from L.A.

Two weeks later, I’ve read all 10 of them.

Rimington is a former Director General of MI5, the British domestic security service. Her authority as a thriller writer shows in the subtle, slow machinations as her stories unspool. The lead character is smart and appealing, the plots are broken into short chapters, there’s wanderlust as characters hop around Europe and Africa. Overall I found them very enjoyable. The first one’s At Risk. If you like it, you’ll probably like the series.