Assassination on the SS Isle of Capri does what it says on the tin. It caused a lot of speculation on the RDWF forum with everyone wondering who was going to be assassinated and by whom. When the story went online it opened in romantic style with Marion and Kristoph enjoying the facilities of the SS Isle of Capri, the fantastic space ship with fully customised rooms and the amazing Vulpesi staff.

But there is far more going on here, as it soon becomes clear. Kristoph leaves Marion after making love in the fake sand in their Mediterranean beach themed room and meets with a young C.I.A. assassin called Ghabban Ussian who is there to kill the man who killed his own father when he was just a boy. Kristoph is appalled by how young -233 – the assassin is, forgetting he was that young once and amazed that he can carry out the mission so very coolly given his personal connection with the target. It is, of course, one of those stories that pulls Kristoph back into his old, dark and dangerous world, reminding him that he was once The Executioner.

When the deed is done, he returns to the light and warmth of an afternoon with Marion on the faux beach. He has no qualms about what happened and makes love to his wife again with a clear conscience about what happened. That’s what kind of man he is.

The book Marion was reading, Riddle of the Sands, by Erskine Childers, is, indeed, the first recognised ‘spy novel’. The sands in question are the hundreds of miles of them on the German/Dutch coast and it is a fascinating novel if you can cope with the huge amount off yachting and nautical detail and the fact that it is more cerebral than action packed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Riddle_of_the_Sands