how to make touch with our Embassy in Moscow. I'll bet they'd swallow the story, if we did it craftily.' 'But the NKVD would shoot him', protested David, shocked to the core. 'Yes', said Peggie happily, 'and serve him bloody right.'" 1943 onwards Shortly after the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, Kenneth and Peggie were posted to Rome; Kenneth had been appointed head of the MI6 station attached to the new British Embassy, which as a result of rationing and ongoing disruption in Italy, was only opened in July 1944. Benton's later career included a further posting to Madrid in 1953, then to London from 1956–62 as head of recruitment for SIS. He was subsequently posted to Lima, Peru and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as Deputy Director for Latin America (DDLA), and retired from the Service in 1968. Post-MI6 Following retirement to Appledore, Kent, then to Chichester, West Sussex, Kenneth began a second career as a writer of spy, crime thrillers, and historical fiction, drawing on his experiences as intelligence officer and diplomat, and his extensive travels. He became president of the Crime Writers Association in 1974-5, succeeding Dick Francis. Fiction Benton published 11 novels across several genres, two of which were published under the pseudonym James Kirton. Those perhaps closest to his experiences in MI6, "though avoiding anything which could compromise or damage his former Service" are the six titles featuring a recurring hero, the police advisor and Counter-terrorism expert Peter Craig. Bibliography References Notes External links www.craig-thrillers.com Information about Benton's spy and crime thrillers featuring police advisor Peter Craig, republished in Kindle format The Crime Writers' Association 1909 births 1999 deaths British spy fiction writers English thriller writers Secret Intelligence Service personnel Writers from Wolverhampton 20th-century English novelists Members of the Detection Club