Michael Frayn has been compared to Evelyn Waugh. It is easy to see why….

[In The Russian Interpreter] Mr. Frayn succeeds in a tricky job of juggling deceivers deceived, spies spied upon.

Unfortunately he needs wittier, lighter moments to come near Evelyn Waugh. The solemner a matter is, the funnier Mr. Frayn finds it. But neither his humor, nor the infrequent glimpses he gives of springtime Russia can dispel the atmosphere of self-righteous dullness he has deliberately created.

Pamela Marsh, in a review of "The Russian Interpreter," in The Christian Science Monitor, November 23, 1966, p. 15.