Live and Let Die  is the second novel in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series of stories. Set in London, the United States and Jamaica, it was first published in 1954. Fleming wrote the novel at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica before his first book,  Casino Royale, was published; much of the background came from Fleming’s travel in the U.S. and knowledge of Jamaica.

The story centres on Bond’s pursuit of ‘Mr Big, ‘ a criminal with links to the American criminal network, the world of voodoo, and SMERSH—an arm of the Soviet secret service—all of which are threats to the First World. Bond becomes involved in the US through Mr Big’s smuggling of 17th-century gold coins from British territories in the Caribbean.