This article proposes that undergraduate study of a spy novel can function to help learners to query what constitutes ethical human conduct. It overviews current and recent scholarly literature on the usefulness of fiction in the teaching of ethical considerations; proposes a broad-based notion of ‘ethics’ relevant in the context of the literary studies classroom; and then suggests sample approaches to a novel that is proposed as a case study (María Duenas’ El tiempo entre costuras [2009]).