Hello, my name's Tim. Today's story is a classic novel about spies, disguise and bare-faced lies.
Are you prepared for the deception that lies ahead?
Let's find out.
Our story begins with Richard Hannay,
a Scottish engineer who has made his fortune in Africa and now returns to London,
which he finds very dull, until one night he is visited by a neighbour.
The man claims to be an American journalist called Franklin Scudder and tells Hannay,
I happen at this moment to be dead.
Turns out that Scudder is actually a British officer who's being chased by spies
because he has uncovered a plot to assassinate the Greek Prime Minister and launch Europe into war.
The story sounds unlikely, but Hannay doesn't think Scudder is a liar.
He lets him hide in his flat.
Scudder spends the mornings lying in and the afternoons writing in his notebook.
One night...
Hannay returns to find Scudder lying on his floor, dead, with a knife through his heart.
Hannay realises that he is in great danger from the murderers themselves and from the police who will suspect him.
Scudder's mission is not Hannay's responsibility, but he cannot let sleeping dogs lie,
so he takes the notebook, which is written in code, and heads to Scotland to lie low.
He finds a local inn where he can have a lie down,
but two mysterious men arrive asking questions about him.