Part of Maggie Hope, book 9
First published 2020
December 1942. London endures another winter of war as Maggie Hope takes temporary leave from the Special Operations Executive to defuse bombs across the city. The secret agent carries wounds from her last mission, pushing herself into reckless behavior that includes smoking, drinking gin, and racing through blacked-out streets on a motorcycle. She wants nothing more than to avoid another dangerous case. Then someone steals one of the world's finest violins, a priceless Stradivarius, and Maggie cannot resist the mystery. At the same time, a serial killer hunts victims through wartime London, and authorities demand Maggie's expertise to stop the murders. As she pursues both investigations, Maggie discovers an unexpected connection between the missing instrument and the killings. Her search for answers forces her to confront a new kind of evil while the war rages around her.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, thriller, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, secret-agent
Setting: London
Period: 1942
339 pages · Hardcover · Bantam
Content warnings: violence