[3] Benton reported technically to Hamilton Stokes, Head of the Madrid SIS Station, but because of the confidential nature of his decoding work, he was not allowed to discuss ISOS traffic.
The cover that the Visa office provided allowed Benton and his wife to create a database of information on individuals leaving and entering Spain, which could be compiled with other intelligence reports to identify patterns.
[3] He was subsequently posted to Lima, Peru and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as Deputy Director for Latin America (DDLA), and retired from the Service in 1968.
Following retirement to Appledore, Kent, then to Chichester, West Sussex, Kenneth began a second career as a writer of spy, crime thrillers, and historical fiction, drawing on his experiences as intelligence officer and diplomat, and his extensive travels.
Those perhaps closest to his experiences in MI6, "though avoiding anything which could compromise or damage his former Service"[3] are the six titles featuring a recurring hero, the police advisor and Counter-terrorism expert Peter Craig.