Cooler than James Bond

Modesty Blaise is ... well, self-actualized. How about that? She is in total control of herself. She has the normal attributes of a hero: fighting ability, money, skill with weapons, fatally attractive. But several things put the Blaise novels above the pack. Morals, an unwillingness to kill unless forced to, and a suitably strong male sidekick - with whom there is no sex and no sexual tension either. And a degree of self-composure, a sort of secular spirituality, that is well described. She can control her heart rate, her breathing like a yogi master. She's always in command of the situation without ever being arrogant.

Modesty and Willie travel the world as unofficial agents for British counter-espionage stopping various dastardly plots. O'Donnell makes you worry for her as he constructs incredibly difficult situations and then has her plausibly overcome them.

Don't confuse these well-written stories with the horrible movie from the 60's.

Novels in order

Modesty Blaise (1965)

Sabre-Tooth (1966)

I, Lucifer (1967)

A Taste for Death (1969)

Impossible Virgin (1971)

The Silver Mistress (1973)

Last Day in Limbo (1976)

Dragon's Claw (1978)

There were also a number of comic strip collections.