Smoke and Embers
An Inspector Troy Novel
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3.8 • 5 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
From “one of the best authors of espionage fiction” (Wall Street Journal), a book of deception and money to be made amid the rubble of World War II
From an author whose books have been described as “one of the great pleasures of modern spy fiction” by Slow Horses author Mick Herron and compared to the works of Alan Furst, Phillip Kerr, and Joseph Kanon, in Smoke and Embers John Lawton turns to the murky days, weeks and years following the end of World War II in Germany, Britain, and beyond.
Smoke and Embers is the ninth installment of the beloved Inspector Troy series, and opens in 1950, when Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Troy learns that his sergeant has been conducting an affair with the known mistress of infamous London racketeer Otto Ohnherz. Troy is immediately intrigued by the mysterious origins of Ohnherz’s second-in-command, Jay Fabian, who is a major contributor to all three British political parties and claims to have survived the concentration camps—yet he lacks proof beyond his word. So begins a novel of duplicity and reinvention in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, with each chapter adding a new layer of intrigue.
With a twisting plotline, crackling dialogue, characteristic humor, and the return of beloved characters, Smoke and Embers is an exciting new addition to John Lawton’s masterful canon.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The intricate ninth installment in Lawton's series featuring Scotland Yard inspector Frederick Troy (after Friends and Traitors) tracks the fates of nearly a dozen Europeans during the desperate final months of WWII. The action opens in 1950, with London still in a postwar depression. Troy's brother, Rod, has been reelected as an MP for the Labour Party, thanks in part to generous donations from war racketeer Otto Ohnherz and his consigliere, Jay Fabian, who claims to be an Auschwitz survivor—though Troy suspects him of being a Russian agent. The novel then rewinds to 1945 Poland, where Sam Fabian, a physicist and Polish Jew, survives Auschwitz and is recruited as a translator for the Russians in Berlin. There, he trades identities with Nazi deserter Klaus von Niegutt, who changes his fake name from "Sam" to "Jay" and heads for London. After Ohnherz dies in the 1950s timeline, Jay apparently falls off a roof to his death, but his past is so dense with deceptions and aliases that Troy suspects murder. Short chapters and snappy dialogue help speed the kalidoscopic narrative along, though not at the expense of character development or emotional power. Lawton remains a force to be reckoned with.
