by Rennie Airth
First published 2009
London, 1944. Rosa Novak lies dead in a frozen street, killed during a blackout. Scotland Yard writes off the young Polish refugee's death as random violence. They would close the case, but Rosa worked for John Madden, a former police investigator who refuses to let her murder go unsolved. Madden digs deeper into Rosa's life and uncovers dangerous secrets. The investigation leads him to a dead Parisian furrier, a member of the French Resistance, and a cache of stolen diamonds that someone killed to protect. Each clue pulls Madden further into a web of wartime corruption and betrayal. Rosa trusted Madden as her employer. Now he must honor that trust by finding her killer, even as the trail leads him into the dark heart of occupied Europe's black market. The case becomes personal for Madden, who feels responsible for Rosa's death and determined to deliver justice for a young woman who had already lost everything to war.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: investigation, personal-stakes
Setting: London, Paris
Period: 1944
460 pages · Hardcover · Penguin Group
Content warnings: violence