It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about the four archetypical plots for spy novels. I fully intended to continue the exploration sooner than this, but, as John Lennon sang in “Beautiful Boy,” “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” But now, I can refocus on plot type two.

All spy novels have an element of mystery: finding out who the mole is, uncovering a nefarious plot, etc. Typically, though, The Mystery plot involves some sort of disaster in the planning or making and finding who is behind it. Again typically, the protagonist is an officer or operative of a country’s counterintelligence or counterterrorism agency. The Prize (see the post about spy novel archetypes for a refresher) is uncovering the antagonist behind the disaster.

The key for the spy novel as mystery is that the protagonist has no idea, no clue who the antagonist is. That’s the mystery the protagonist has to work out.

So, let’s examine the mystery plot.

The protagonist’s agency uncovers evidence of an impending disaster, maybe from an asset, maybe from chatter picked up by a listening post, but who’s trying to perpetrate this disaster is unknown. Or, the triggering event could be an act of terrorism from an unknown source.

The protagonist is then assigned to discover, and stop, the antagonist. In the case of an act of terror, the protagonist has to discover who was behind it and bring the person to justice.

The protagonist and perhaps some analysts create a plan to find the antagonist. If it’s for an impending disaster, the protagonist is under a time constraint, i.e., to find and stop the antagonist before the disaster can happen. If the planning begins after a disaster has occurred, the plan centers around evidence accumulated to lead the protagonist to the antagonist. In either case, the protagonist collects and analyzes intelligence that points to the antagonist.

Because a story arc requires obstacles for the protagonist, there are likely a series of near-misses in finding the antagonist, and the antagonist is the one who throws obstacles in the protagonist’s path–impeding the process and setting the protagonist back to place from which he or she may have start all over again. Otherwise known as rising tension.

The protagonist may need allies in this search, and the throwing together of two characters who would normally oppose each other is a good plot twist. The 2015 film, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., partners a CIA case officer with a KGB agent at the height of the Cold War to track down and stop people who are trying to build a nuclear bomb for a group of leftover Nazis. Bringing in an ally also offers an opportunity to introduce some romance, or bromance in the case of the U.N.C.L.E. movie.

The plot moves forward with the allies accumulating more clues after each obstacle, some of them red herrings as in a true mystery novel. The enemies, however, are growing desperate to stop the allies from getting to the antagonist, which can lead to mistakes that help the protagonist. At this point, it may be time for another plot twist, where the protagonist may be betrayed, either by an ally or someone in his or her own organization.

But the protagonist persists and, finally, at the expected confrontation, the protagonist either stops the disaster or finds the perpetrator of a disaster. An added aspect of the plot is discovering of the “why” behind the antagonist’s actions. A great plot twist here, and one I’ve used, is that the protagonist fails to stop the disaster, even if he or she stops or terminates the antagonist.

Of course, one of the best examples of the mystery plot in a spy novel is John le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. In this riveting novel, British Intelligence knows someone is betraying their agents throughout Europe, and the novel follows the mystery process to uncover who the mole was. It’s a fascinating look into tradecraft with plenty of action throughout.

Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean is another good read and good example of the mystery plot in a spy novel. After a fire at a British weather station–Ice Station Zebra–a U.S. submarine arrives to pickup the survivors. Sabotage ensues, meaning a killer is among the survivors. The submarine’s crew, the protagonist, is joined by an ally from among the survivors, a doctor who’s a mystery as well. In hunting down the antagonist and discovering how the destructive fire got started, the Arctic environment and the antagonist throw up obstacle after obstacle until the saboteur and killer is revealed. In the movie version, one of the tensest scenes I’ve ever seen is the Dolphin heading for Ice Station Zebra by sailing beneath Arctic ice floes without the crew’s knowing for sure if the sub will be able to surface.

The mystery spy novel plot is timeless and can definitely keep you turning the page.

Next time, spy novel plot number three–on the run.