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The Night Gate – Peter May

In a sleepy French village, the body of a man shot through the head is disinterred by the roots of a fallen tree. A week later a famous art critic is viciously murdered in a nearby house. The deaths occurred more than seventy years apart.
Asked by a colleague to inspect the site of the former, forensics expert Enzo Macleod quickly finds himself embroiled in the investigation of the latter. Two extraordinary narratives are set in train – one historical, unfolding in the treacherous wartime years of Occupied France; the other contemporary, set in the autumn of 2020 as France re-enters Covid lockdown.

And Enzo’s investigations reveal an unexpected link between the murders – the Mona Lisa.

Tasked by the exiled General Charles de Gaulle to keep the world’s most famous painting out of Nazi hands after the fall of France in 1940, 28-year-old Georgette Pignal finds herself swept along by the tide of history. Following in the wake of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa as it is moved from château to château by the Louvre, she finds herself just one step ahead of two German art experts sent to steal it for rival patrons – Hitler and Göring.

What none of them know is that the Louvre itself has taken exceptional measures to keep the painting safe, unwittingly setting in train a fatal sequence of events extending over seven decades.

Events that have led to both killings.

The Night Gate spans three generations, taking us from war-torn London, the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, Berlin and Vichy France, to the deadly enemy facing the world in 2020. In his latest novel, Peter May shows why he is one of the great contemporary writers of crime fiction.

My thanks to Sophie at Midas PR for my review copy and for the opportunity to join the blog tour for The Night Gate.

The Night Gate is an Enzo Macleod story. Amazon describes it as “The Enzo Files Book 7” today I describe it as my introduction to Enzo and the books of Peter May. Actually “introduction” is a tad misleading as we own several Peter May books and Mrs Grab has been reading them before me. From her feedback I already knew I would be in for a treat with The Night Gate – as usual Mrs Grab was quite right.

This story felt epic in scale. Not only do events take place around France but the action also moves to Scotland and we get some trips to Nazi Germany too. The narrative has a timeframe of seven decades taking in Europe during the dark days of World War Two and spinning forward to modern day where Europe is contending with a global pandemic. This is one of the first books I have read which has incorporated Covid-19 into the narrative and I very much enjoyed that the author has acknowledged it but not made it a dominating factor in the story. The pandemic is referenced, the requirement to mask up and the inconvenience it causes are noted but that’s it. It’s a thing to be dealt with.

The Night Gate sees Enzo invited to assist the police investigate a brutal and bloody murder. His expertise is recognised and the local police feel his contribution would be beneficial. Readers spend a little time with the vicitm as he approaches his final minutes of life and we understand how the murder ocurred, we just don’t know who was responsible.

Not content with giving Enzo one murder to consider, Peter May has a second dead body waiting to be uncovered. This is not a recent murder, however, as the bones found appear to date back to the 1940’s – the corpse was likely an officer in the German army and he was buried in France with a bullet wound in the side of his head. As the story unfolds and the identidy of the officer becomes clear Enzo realises there may be a connection between the two dead men. What could the connection be? Well it all revolves around the most famous painting in the world…the Mona Lisa.

During the Second World War the French were terrified of the prospect of Paris falling and the Germans getting their hands on the treasures of the Louvre. The jewel of the collection was undoubtably Da Vinci’s masterpiece so the staff at the Louvre arranged for the painting to be shipped out of Paris and hidden in rural France, shipped from place to place to make it harder to find. The principle focus of the wartime scenes is Georgette (George) Pignal. She meets General De Galle in London and he tasks her with the responsibility of keeping the Mona Lisa away from the Germans.

George travels to Scotland where she receives training in the Western Isles to prepare her for life as an undercover operative in occupied France. When she finally returns to her homeland she is soon face to face with two German officers both have also been instructed to find the Mona Lisa but one is working for Hitler and the other for Göring. These three characters are pawns in a bigger game and each serves a powerful master, failure is not an option. The parts of the story which feature George really had me gripped and I loved reading about her – the uncertainty around what may happen to her made her perils seem more vivid. Due to the passage of time between George’s story and Enzo’s the reader knows George will be dead in 2020. Knowing a key character for the story isn’t going to be alive in the modern day scenes raises the tension – George could be killed at any stage and you hope the author makes good use of that freedom. No spoilers though – grab yourself a copy of The Night Gate to learn about George’s fate.

A power struggle for the ownership of the world’s most famous painting was not the story I had been expecting from the opening chapters but Peter May gripped my attention from the outset and I was hooked. As I mentioned at the start of my review, this was my introduction to Peter May’s books. A quick look at the catalogue of his earlier work shows that I have a lot of catching up to do. However, if I enjoy the other books even half as much as I enjoyed The Night Gate then I know I have hours of reading pleasure stretching out in front of me – I can’t wait to get stuck in.

Returning fans will be delighted to be reunited with Enzo Macleod. New readers can be confident of picking up The Night Gate and knowing they can jump straight into the action and still enjoy this clever and exciting thriller.

The Night Gate was published by Riverrun on 18 March 2021 and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B089CGRL5M/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

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January 21

Hitler’s Secret – Rory Clements

Autumn 1941. The war is going badly for Britain and its allies. If Hitler is to be stopped, a new weapon is desperately needed.

In Cambridge, professor Tom Wilde is approached by an American intelligence officer who claims to know of such a weapon – one so secret even Hitler himself isn’t aware of its existence. If Wilde can smuggle the package out of Germany, the Third Reich will surely fall.

But it is only when he is deep behind enemy lines that Wilde discovers why the Nazis are so desperate to prevent the ‘package’ falling into Allied hands. And as ruthless killers hunt him through Europe, a treacherous question hangs over the mission: if Hitler’s secret will win them the war, why is Wilde convinced it must remain hidden?

My thanks to Zaffre for my review copy and to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for allowing me the opportunity to host this leg of the blog tour.

War time action thrills are the order of the day in Hitler’s Secret. In 1941 the war is dragging on and Germany, fighting a war both to the East and West, are firmly under control of Adolph Hitler and his National Socialist party. The British and their allies know success in their campaign relies upon toppling Hitler – if the figurehead of the Third Reich could be removed then Germany would surely step down from their fighting.

Clearly the Germans also knew the importance of keeping Hitler safe and also in protecting his image. One man held a position of power and influence which exceeded that of Hitler’s Generals and closest advisers – the “Gatekeeper”. This man, Bormann, worked alongside Hitler in his offices and was responsible for his diary, his appointments and for deciding which telephone calls Hitler would receive and which party members would be granted access to meet with him. Bormann is a powerful man who kept out of the spotlight but a man who would do whatever it took to protect his Leader and his own position of importance. He knows a secret, one which very few people know. He has information which cannot be shared with anyone else; the British cannot have the information as it would be used to damage Hitler. Hitler’s allies cannot know the information as it would undermine his authority and Hitler himself doesn’t even know this information – for him to learn the truth may also cause him to lose focus on the matters at hand. The secret must never be known and if people have to die to ensure the truth remains hidden – so be it.

The problem with secrets is that, invariably, truth will out. As we begin Hitler’s Secret, the British know of the highly sensitive information and they are sending Tom Wilde undercover behind enemy lines to recover a package which will expose Hitler’s Secret to the World. Bormann is also taking decisive steps to have the package destroyed – anyone who comes into possession of the package must also be removed. The chase is on and with everything at stake it’s a mighty story.

Described by the Sunday Times as a “What If” story, I find the Tom Wilde books to be great action thrillers from one of our darkest times. Rory Clements builds on events from the War and weaves his stories into the events of 1941. Familiar people and places will appear and the characters Clements introduces will phase in and around them, it gives the story a feeling of authenticity and makes scene setting very realistic.

Wilde is putting himself against one of the most resourceful figures in the Nazi party. He will need to place his trust in a select few individuals and the feeling of David vs Goliath was ever present as I read Hitler’s Secret.

I don’t read many thrillers set during WW2 but I have read a few books by Rory Clements and each has been a satisfying experience. Perhaps the best way to articulate this would be trying to describe how, after each reading session, I found I was mentally adjusting back to 2020 life and popping the world of 1941 into the background. Clements built the world around me as I read and after putting down the book I could still easily picture the environments he had described.

If you enjoy spy thrillers and stories of wartime heroics then this book is for you.

Hitler’s Secret is published by Zaffre on 23 January 2020 and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07VV5RLP8/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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February 6

Corpus – Rory Clements

1936.
Europe is in turmoil.
The Nazis have marched into the Rhineland.
In Russia, Stalin has unleashed his Great Terror.
Spain has erupted in civil war.

In Berlin, a young Englishwoman evades the Gestapo to deliver vital papers to a Jewish scientist. Within weeks, she is found dead in her Cambridge bedroom, a silver syringe clutched in her fingers.

In a London club, three senior members of the British establishment light the touch paper on a conspiracy that will threaten the very heart of government. Even the ancient colleges of Cambridge are not immune to political division. Dons and students must choose a side: right or left, where do you stand?

When a renowned member of the county set and his wife are found horribly murdered, a maverick history professor finds himself dragged into a world of espionage which, until now, he has only read about in books. But the deeper Thomas Wilde delves, the more he wonders whether the murders are linked to the death of the girl with the silver syringe – and, just as worryingly, to the scandal surrounding King Edward VIII and his mistress Wallis Simpson…

My thanks to Emily at Zaffre for my review copy

Historical fiction is always a tricky balance – can the author capture the time and setting? Are the events covered so well known that building a new story around famous characters seems implausible? Does the author challenge your perception or understanding of an historical event? Having read Corpus I can report that Rory Clements does a fantastic job at ticking all those boxes.

It is 1936 and the Nazi party are on the rise in Europe, there are powerful men in prominent positions in England that are keeping their support of Mr Hitler very quiet. There are also a significant number of communist party members to be found in London and Cambridge so political tensions run high. All this is not helped by the pressure on the King who is involved with an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson.

In the midst of all these forces is American History Professor Thomas Wilde. He provides a detached overview of the political manoeuvring and his approach to analyse and challenge events makes him a great lead character. Wilde is well respected but does not seem to fit in with the traditionalists around his college. He will provide guidance to a Times journalist (who may working for more than one master) who wants to consult Wilde on the brutal murder of a member of the aristocracy as there are political ramifications which need explored.

Corpus is a political thriller, there is a murderer running around too and there is a good dose of action adventure happening here too. As I indicated above, Rory Clements does a brilliant job in setting the scene and keeping the fictional events relevant to the established historical facts that he is weaving his story around. There are some very unlikeable characters, yet Wilde is a joy to follow and reading this story was something of a treat.

Fans of Fatherland, cold war thrillers and political dramas – this is very much one for you.

Corpus is published by Zaffre and is available now in hardback and digital format. Order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corpus-gripping-thriller-rival-Fatherland/dp/1785762613/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486343586&sr=8-1&keywords=Corpus

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