Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Minotaur Books, #partner for the advanced copy of I, Spy in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Minotaur Books / Macmillan Audio
Published: May 5, 2026
Summary:
Ex-spy Kendal was one of the best, but now she’s wearing the toughest disguise of her career: Mom.
Kendal Carter is out in the cold and she wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s been four years since her daughter Rosie was born and Kendal has kept her miles away from The Game. But when their hiding place is discovered and danger comes too close, Ken is forced to turn to old contacts. Her longtime friend and ex-handler Rico doesn’t miss his chance to pull his best player back in. Whisking them to London, Rico offers them a luxury safe house in an area with good schools. How can she resist?
But there’s a catch, of course. Rico wants Kendal to come back to work for his espionage agency Bon Temps. He’s offering a cushy assignment with no apparent downside, running a rookie asset in one of London’s biggest, murkiest tech firms. It should be easy enough for someone with her experience, and luckily, mother is the perfect cover.
However, it doesn’t take long for Kendal to realize that Rico’s got an agenda of his own. The tech firm has hands in Rosie’s school, and the world of PTAs and playdates comes with its own web of allegiances and betrayals. Kendal soon finds herself in way too deep . . .
I, Spy is a propulsive debut thriller about the disguise that all parents wear, and the former lives that come back to haunt us.
My thoughts:
This was such a pleasant surprise – a debut that I thoroughly enjoyed! It has the feel of a Finlay Donovan story with a more serious nature and I sure wouldn’t mind seeing Kendal again in another adventure!
Kendal has moved on to her next job – that of being a mom, when her old world comes crashing down on her and she’s forced back into the game – back into the world she thought she left behind. Now that her identity and location have been comprised, she needs to move her and her daughter, and of course, reaching out to her old handler comes with a price. One more job…
This was such a fun, entertaining mystery but it also explored some deeper issues, like motherhood and identity, that I wasn’t expecting. I really liked Kendal — she was so relatable and believable. Her mama-bear characteristics were spot on but I loved how she could easily go from Momma to spy in a snap. You really got that sense of how much she loved her jobs – both as a spy and as a mother and was conflicted with which one was more important.
This one starts with a bang and never lets up, which I loved. There’s no lag time at all. Something is always happening. The twists and turns were perfectly placed and things are set up so that there is the possibly that there might be another book in the works? Maybe?? I sure hope so!!
Audio thoughts:
This was narrated by Ell Potter and she does an amazing job! Her pacing was spot on and her voice helps to set the mood, switching her voice to personify each character just right.
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