# What is the best George Smiley novel?

> Early whodunnits, the Karla trilogy and the new Circus novels written after le Carré's death all sit on one shelf. Which Smiley case would you reread first?

*By YPB Team · Published November 7, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-george-smiley-novel*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Call for the Dead**
   John le Carré's 1961 debut novel, in which George Smiley investigates the apparent suicide of a Foreign Office official.
2. **A Murder of Quality**
   Le Carré's 1962 second novel, a murder mystery that takes Smiley to a boarding school in the West Country.
3. **The Spy Who Came in from the Cold**
   Le Carré's 1963 Cold War novel about British agent Alec Leamas, with Smiley in a supporting role; it won the Gold Dagger.
4. **The Looking Glass War**
   Le Carré's 1965 novel about a small military-intelligence department running an ill-fated agent into East Germany, with Smiley on the margins.
5. **Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy**
   Le Carré's 1974 novel in which Smiley is brought back to hunt a Soviet mole at the top of the Circus.
6. **The Honourable Schoolboy**
   Le Carré's 1977 novel, set largely in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, following Smiley's counter-attack on Karla's networks.
7. **Smiley's People**
   Le Carré's 1979 novel that closes the Karla trilogy, with Smiley called out of retirement after the murder of an old agent.
8. **The Secret Pilgrim**
   Le Carré's 1990 novel in which Ned recalls his Circus career after Smiley speaks to a class of new recruits.
9. **A Legacy of Spies**
   Le Carré's 2017 novel revisiting the Leamas operation of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold through Peter Guillam's eyes.
10. **Karla's Choice**
   Nick Harkaway's 2024 novel, the first new Smiley book after le Carré's death, set in 1963 between The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor.
11. **The Taper Man**
   Nick Harkaway's 2026 follow-up to Karla's Choice, set in 1965, in which Smiley's hunt for a Soviet sleeper agent leads to Los Angeles.

Tags: books, spy, john le carré