James Keen is a spymaster with British Intelligence.
Not many series change horses in midstream but that is what Mr. Jones did with his very interesting and challenging series about James Keen. A man in his 60's when the series begins and already overweight, Keen is a man in considerable power. He works directly for the Cabinet Office with the ability to meet with the Prime Minister as needed.
It is his job to seek out the problems before they get too big. Unfortunately, that usually means they are not yet big enough to make other realize the situation. As a result, Keen must force his will too often, ending up with very few friends and a lot of enemies. Even those that work for him often do so out of fear more than respect or friendship.
Which makes him really the perfect boss for Claude Ravel, a man determined to get the job done no matter what rules must be shattered. As the series progresses, Ravel works more and more with his wife, Monique, a woman as dangerous as she is beautiful.
While Ravel and others are the action end of things, it is Keen who is the brains and who directs events. At least for the first three books. Then he is virtually non-existent in the 4th, and, well, dead in 5th.
Mr. Jones wrote a few more books about the Ravels afterwards, though he had both Claude and Monique move to Interpol and because rule-breaking international policemen. These books are:
The Embers of Hate (1966)
Testament of Evil (1966)
The Deadly Trade (1967)
A Den Of Savage Men (1967)