This is book 1 of the "David Audley" series.

This note contains spoilers for the book.

I've also got a general page on Anthony Price.

First of the David Audley books, and it doesn't look like I've reread this since I started booknotes.

Audley is just getting kicked out of the Middle Eastern section, and Fred is putting him to work as a trouble-shooter. And Panin shows up for the first time. And Audley meets Faith, and they're married before the next book. So really, quite a lot happens in this one. We even see Audley recognizing Faith as a vital good influence, who will help keep him from turning into a monster like Panin.

This is an extremely accomplished first-of-a-series (I'm not aware of any previous published fiction from Price at all). The character seems very clearly imagined, and his relationships with a number of people around him are already pretty well set (like Mrs. Clark).