Octopussy and The Living Daylights

The story, without spoilers

In "Octopussy", Bond visits a former soldier in Jamaica about a matter with roots in wartime Europe. In "The Living Daylights", he is sent to Berlin to protect another agent from a hidden marksman.

"The Property of a Lady" turns a London auction of a rare object into an intelligence operation. "007 in New York" is a brief sketch of the city seen through Bond's eyes.

Can I start here?

It works as a short sampler, although the stories are best read at the end, as Fleming's last Bond writing.

What stands out

The stories are small in scale: a private guilt, a stakeout, an auction room and a city sketch. The 2025 audiobook runs to less than three hours.

• "The Property of a Lady" was added in a 1967 paperback and "007 in New York" in a 2002 edition.
• The 2025 Audible recording, read by Ben Willbond, has four stories.

Content notes

Suggested age 16+. Violence, wartime wrongdoing, sexualised descriptions and period attitudes.

Book and film

Octopussy (1983, Roger Moore) and The Living Daylights (1987, Timothy Dalton) take their titles and some scenes from these stories.

Where it is set

• Jamaica
• Germany: Berlin
• England: London
• USA: New York

Real and fictional Bond places

Main characters

James Bond, M, Major Dexter Smythe.