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One of today’s top historical espionage writers, considered “as good as Le Carré” (Chicago Tribune) and “a master,” John Lawton adds another spellbinding thriller to his Inspector Troy series with Second Violin (Rocky Mountain News).
The sixth installment in the series, Lawton’s new novel opens in 1938 with Europe on the brink of war. In London, Frederick Troy, newly promoted to the prestigious murder squad at Scotland Yard, is put in charge of rounding up a list of German and Italian “enemy aliens” that also includes his brother, Rod, who learns upon receiving an internment letter that he was born in Austria despite having grown up in England. Hundreds of men are herded by train to a neglected camp on the Isle of Man. And as the bombs start falling on London, a murdered rabbi is found, then another, and another . . .
Amid great war, murder is what matters. Moving from the Nazi-infested alleys of prewar Vienna to the bombed-out streets of 1940 London, and featuring an extraordinary cast of characters, Lawton’s thriller is a suspenseful and intelligent novel, as good a spy story as it is an historical narrative.
“Smart and gracefully written.” —Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
September 15, 2009 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781555848620
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781555848620
- File size: 2853 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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September 15, 2008
Lawton’s engrossing sixth entry but the first chronologically in his Inspector Troy thriller series (Black Out
, etc.) chronicles the major events leading up to WWII—Germany’s annexation of Austria, Chamberlain’s peace efforts, Kristallnacht
—while providing a disturbing picture of anti-Semitism and class frictions in England at the time. As part of Scotland Yard’s murder squad, Insp. Frederick Troy investigates a series of slayings of London rabbis, but various subplots equally intrigue, notably one that unfolds in an internment camp for Germans, Jews and foreigners—including Troy’s Austrian-born brother, Rod—rounded up after Britain’s entry into the war. At one point, Troy and a lady friend discover the “aphrodisia of war” in Hyde Park, a spot popular with couples for copulation during the blitz. Lawton does a fine job of incorporating such lesser known period details into his saga, though some readers may find he relies too often on deus ex machina for their taste.
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