Second Violin

Inspector Troy #6

by John Lawton

It is 1938, and Europe is on the brink of war. As London braces for air attacks, 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". The list 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, Lawton's thriller is a suspenseful and intelligent novel featuring an extraordinary cast of characters. It is as good a spy story as it is an historical narrative.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Historical Mystery, Crime, Thriller, World War II

420 pages, Hardcover

First published August 9, 2007

About the author

John Lawton is a producer/director in television who has spent much of his time interpreting the USA to the English, and occasionally vice versa. He has worked with Gore Vidal, Neil Simon, Scott Turow, Noam Chomsky, Fay Weldon, Harold Pinter and Kathy Acker. He thinks he may well be the only TV director ever to be named in a Parliamentary Bill in the British House of Lords as an offender against taste and balance. He has also been denounced from the pulpit in Mississippi as a `Communist,’ but thinks that less remarkable.

He spent most of the 90s in New York – among other things attending the writers’ sessions at The Actors’ Studio under Norman Mailer – and has visited or worked in more than half the 50 states. Since 2000 he has lived in the high, wet hills ofDerbyshire England, with frequent excursions into the high, dry hills of Arizona and Italy.

He is the author of 1963, a social and political history of the Kennedy-Macmillan years, six thrillers in the Troy series and a stand-alone novel, Sweet Sunday.

In 1995 the first Troy novel, Black Out, won the WH Smith Fresh Talent Award. In 2006 Columbia Pictures bought the fourth Troy novel Riptide. In 2007 A Little White Death was a New York Times notable.

In 2008 he was one of only half a dozen living English writers to be named in the London Daily Telegraph‘s `50 Crime Writers to Read before You Die.’ He has also edited the poetry of DH Lawrence and the stories of Joseph Conrad. He is devoted to the work of Franz Schubert, Cormac McCarthy, Art Tatum and Barbara Gowdy. (source: http://www.johnlawtonbooks.com)

He was born in 1949 in England.

Reviews

[Gram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this is the 6th book in the Inspector Troy series, Frederick Troy only plays a small part in the story, the bulk of which comprises details of the horrors faced by Jews in Austria following the Anschluss - the 1938 annexation of Austria in 1938 by Hitler's Germany leading up to Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass (Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary forces along with civilians throughout Germany destroyed hundreds of Jewish shops and stores and scores of Jewish synagogues. There follows the story of the deprivations suffered by aliens ("Krauts, Jews and Wops") in Britain when thousands were interned in camps throughout the country under British Government wartime regulations. Many were non-Nazi Germans and Jews who had already suffered imprisonment in German concentration camps during the 1930's.
The final part of "Second Violin" tells of the Luftwaffe's "blitz" on London as Troy - now a detective sergeant with Scotland Yard's Murder Squad - tries to track down the killer of four East End of London rabbis.
Once again, John Lawton produces a thrilling historical fiction mixed with a chilling crime story.

[Jean Guarr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the chronological first of the Troy books, though he is not the main character in the book. There is a mystery here, but it's a very minor part of the book. It's more historical fiction, very well done, of the period leading up to the start of WWII; and that's not my usual thing - but I love the series. The characters suck you in, and the events are well researched. Some of the descriptions are poetic. All three of those things are not my usual preferences - normally I read only for the puzzle - but these are very satisfying. If you haven't read any of his stuff and want to try, read this one first but be aware it's not representative of the mysteries in the series.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Lawton confused most followers of the Inspector Troy series by not publishing the books in chronological order. SECOND VIOLIN is the sixth book in the Inspector Frederick Troy series to be published but it is a prequel and as such it should be the first book read by anyone who wishes to try this series. This is a review of SECOND VIOLIN.

The activities of the Troy family make much more sense if SECOND VIOLIN is read first. The seventh book, A LILY OF THE FIELD, has just been released. The prologue is dated 1948; the first chapter begins in Vienna in 1934. According to a list at the beginning of A LILY OF THE FIELD, the order in which the books should be read chronologically as opposed to date of publication is as follows:

SECOND VIOLIN, BLUFFING MR. CHURCHILL, BLACK OUT, A LILY OF THE FIELD, OLD FLAMES, FLESH WOUNDS, and A LITTLE WHITE DEATH.

Happily, I have a copy of A LILY OF THE FIELD which I will be reviewing next week.

********************************************************************************

SECOND VIOLIN

Inspector Frederick Troy is the youngest child of Alexei, an immigrant from Russia, who wields considerable influence in political circles in England as a newspaper mogul and political columnist. When the book opens in 1938, Troy’s older brother, a foreign correspondent for his father’s paper, is in Berlin. Against his father’s wishes, Rod goes to Vienna to see the aftermath of Anschluss. One night Rod steps into a fight and saves the life of ‘Joe’ a Jewish tailor. His action is witnessed by Wolfgang Stahl, an officer with the SD. He arrests Rod but puts him on a plane, forcing him to leave Austria to go to the security of England.

Yet, when Rod returns to England, he discovers that he is not safe. Unlike his younger brother, Rod was not born in England but in Austria and, as Europe moves towards war, he is classified as a “stateless” person. He is ordered to an internment camp on the Isle of Man to join other stateless persons such as the Jews and Italians who had made their lives in England and who thought themselves valued members of British society.

Frederick Troy is a member of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad but he is pressed into service rounding up other stateless persons in the neighborhoods of London he had patrolled at the beginning of his career. Both brothers begin to question if they are truly “English” or is that a status that will always be closed to them despite their money and their success.

Then, as the bombs begin falling on London, a rabbi is murdered and then another and another. Freddie decides that, even in the midst of war, the taking of even one life must be punished. On the Isle of Man, Rod again meets Joe and, with the other stateless persons of London, they form an alliance for survival.

SECOND VIOLIN is the story of how far a country might be willing to go when circumstances force neighbors and friends into the role of “other”. The internment camps in England were real; the pro-Nazi aristocracy was real; a hit list of dissenters was real. In an historical note, Lawton writes that he believes that the rest of the world becomes “other” when respect for humanity and differences is lost, when that which makes us human is also lost. SECOND VIOLIN is a complex story set in a complex time but it is an uplifting story of men who learn they can rise above circumstances beyond their control and earn their right to be part of the whole.

The Inspector Troy series is significant because it gives those of us who were born after WW II and into the 1950′s some idea of the challenges faced by people who wanted to do the right thing despite the atmosphere and the leadership that had taken over Europe. It is worth contemplating the circumstances birthed by WW I and the Depression that led to the rise of Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, Franco in Spain, and Stalin in the Soviet Union.

[Nicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, this is billed as a hunt for a killer bumping off rabbis in the first year or so of the Second World War. That's not really what this novel's about. Mr Lawton's first love is characters rather than action, so if you're after a straight-down-the-line murder mystery, this is probably not for you.

Although this is part of the Troy series, most of the novel focuses on characters other than Troy.

It follows Troy's older brother Rod in Vienna during Kristallnacht, in an internment camp on the Isle of Man and finally into the skies of southern England during the desperate days of the Battle of Britain. We also see a good deal of Alex Troy meeting with political cronies, including Winston Churchill.

There are a fair few non-Troys too. The most affecting for me was Josef Hummel, a Jewish tailor in Vienna. Through his eyes, we see the behaviour of the Nazis before and during Kristallnacht. We also see his journey through Europe to London and his internment alongside Rod Troy. One of the most colourful characters is Cockney tailor Billy Jacks, who turns out to be less Cockney in origin than you might suspect.

Lawton also weaves in many familiar characters: Onions and Bonham of the Metropolitan Police; Walter Stilton and his daughter Kitty; grumpy Polish pathologist Kolankiewicz; and Nazi officer Wolfgang Stahl.

The novel moves from 1938 to 1940, covering the beginning of the Second World War and ending during the Blitz. John Lawton paints an evocative picture of the burning city and the swarms of bombers bringing bellyfuls of death. As ever in his books, London is as much a character as any of the people.

Troy himself is a 24-year-old, newly promoted sergeant in this book. He's only just begun his career in Scotland Yard's Murder Squad when he finds himself commandeered by Special Branch to round up enemy aliens in the East End. Those aliens seem to consist entirely of Jewish, German or Austrian tailors, doctors and professors. Troy's not at all happy with his new role and incurs the wrath of the Special Branch inspector he's temporarily reporting to.

The murder plotline doesn't really kick in until the final third of the book. Up until then, the focus is on Vienna, the round-up and internment of undesirable aliens, and Troy's uncanny knack of getting women to bed him practically the minute they clap eyes on him.

I enjoy reading John Lawton's books. I love his ear for dialogue. However, although generally billed as Inspector Troy of Scotland Yard, increasingly the detective aspect of the story is taking a back seat. In fact, Freddie Troy himself is relegated to only 40-50% of the story. Instead, he appears to have developed a love of embellishing the back stories for many of the other characters.

The Troy series jumps about in its own timeline, so it'll be interesting to see which era Lawton focuses on next.

[Michael Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read. Covering the lead up to WWII with the actions of the Brownshirts, the “round-up” of Jewish people in Vienna, politics/attitudes in pre-war Britain, the treatment of “foreign” people in London, the reality of the black-outs and life in London during the Blitz…and all set to a mysterious spree of assassinations of rabbis in the East End of London. With such a wide range of topics covered in one novel one would think it would read like a forced and jumbled mess. However, the author does a wonder job of intertwining the blend of real and fictional characters with real and fictional events to make a captivating murder mystery, while giving the reader a small glimpse into the uncertainties of life that people faced in Europe and England during such a tumultuous time in history. Not only was the story covering the issues of the times and how they affected large swaths of nationalities and beliefs, but also how it affected single families, right down to the way two brothers were affected so differently merely based of the fact of where they were born. Well worth the read…there is something in this book for every type of reader to enjoy.

[Mike Worley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, the first 2 Lawton books I read were much better reading. However, this book was a pretty good read.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read several persuasive reviews for John Lawton's Inspector Troy series. I picked up Second Violin at a recent library book sale, having just read and greatly enjoyed it, I am eager for the other books in the series. This was a serendipitous read as Second Violin is chronologically the first novel in the series, although it was written much later. Second Violin is much less of a mystery novel than the story of the Troy family as they live through the harrowing events of 1938 to 1940. WIth scenes in Vienna following the Nazi takeover, encounters with the Gestapo in Berlin, internment camps on the Isle of Man, and London during the Blitz, this much more of a character driven fiction. There is a mystery to be solved and Inspector Troy is on the case, although in this case it involves a series of murders that essentially occupy the latter third of the novel. This is not a bad thing as the rest of the story is equally gripping.

Second Violin has the historical element that has caught my attention lately: London during the Blitz. I have recently read four novels in which London plays a significant role.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/87...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/82...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/65...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75...

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't put this book down; I found it a fascinating portrayal of Austria and England in 1939-40 when the Germans took over Vienna and then the start of WWII in London. This is the sixth in the Inspector Troy series, but the first chronologically, which is why I started with this one. I don't know what the other books are like, but this is not really a detective or murder mystery. Yes, Troy investigates the mysterious murder of several rabbis in 1940, but that is such a small part of the overall story. The book starts in Vienna and describes what happens to the Jews when the Nazis take over. You follow a couple of main characters to England (with a small tangent on Sigmund Freud who also escapes from Vienna to London) where ultimately Troy ends up rounding up tailors and professors who are German or Austrian immigrants, many Jewish, who get interned. It's a interesting description in contrasts and similarities. In one section of the book, the internees are giving lectures in modern history and philosophy to pass the time. Lawton does an excellent job of moving the story along but enriching it with little gems to reflect on. I was duly impressed and intrigued to see if the other books maintain this level of thoughtfulness or are more traditional in scope.

[Liz V. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Two strands: a series of murders of rabbis and internment of aliens at the onset of WWII. Lawton provides a sensitive exposition of internees, without perhaps acknowledging that there was in fact something to be feared. That, however, would not have fit his purpose, as explained in the historical note: "Why this topic now? Well, I think we have lived these last few years in a world dominated by a man to whom the rest of the world, other than those from his own green acres in Texas, are just 'kikes and niggers'. A man who cannot even pronounce the name 'Iraq'. ..." Texans might be forgiven for thinking Lawton has a few prejudices himself.

Then, SPOILERS: The murderer dies, imolated by incediaries, leaving the reader not knowing who, other than none of the characters in the preceding 400 and some pages. The murderer is killed by a bomb but a cop is killed by the daughter of one of the murder victims, in the mistaken believe that the cop is the murderer. She is allowed by her cop/lover to go off to the US, hinted to be part of the Manhattan project. No doubt Lawton feels a vigilante murderer is just what the US deserves.

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

A terrible book. After what seemed a promising start, I kept wanting to put it down and find something else to read. The historical setting was, after all, intriguing, and I told myself that the plot, which seemed to have trouble actually getting anywhere, would surely gain momentum soon. But no, it never did. What with the frequent crass language ("he was having a shitty day, and it just got shittier"), and the ludicrous focus on Frederick Troy's sex life (he's a randy one, that one!), the comparisons to Le Carre seem utterly misplaced. There are several "plot-lines," none of which wind up going anywhere or intertwining in interesting ways. There are many unimportant scenes that at nothing to the story, likewise characters that seem important at first, but soon disappear from the story. The main characters do not develop, or even have interesting thoughts. I will say, though, that the depiction of Kristallnacht in Vienna was excellent. Once that setting was left behind, the book ran out of all steam. There are surely many exciting WWII era thrillers out there. This is not one of them.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Lawton goes to the start of his antihero's career, as Freddie Troy works with the Special Branch as World War II starts. Troy hates the Special Branch, a bunch of thugs, he thinks, and longs to get back to clean police work. All he does is help round up enemy aliens for interment. The men he arrests end up on the Isle of Man in the same location as his brother, journalist Rod, who had the misfortune to be born in Vienna as his parents moved from Russia to London. Even their wealthy father can't get Rod out, though he does eventually end up in the RAF. Meanwhile, Troy is trying to find a murderer who's killing rabbis on the East End during the Blitz. Eventually, Troy manages to lose both of the women he's sleeping with, in a futile attempt to keep from losing either. This sets the tone for some of the books published earlier in the series, that cover more of the war and post-war years, and should be read first.

[David Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is where one might well start in reading the Frederick Troy series, since it is the chronological foundation of these novels, even though the books have not been written sequentially. My interest in the era leads me to Blitz books, and this one added to my knowledge of the period and the psychological complexity of Britain's state. Though it is fiction, it tells very well, with close observations that only fiction can offer. Lawton is very strong in this capturing, and the reader is part of his captivity. The book begins in Europe, with Hitler taking Austria, then moves its multiple strands of storytelling to England, where they play out. The reader needs to accept a high incidence of coincidence, irresistible sexuality, and the rights and powers of huge wealth. But there is plenty of kitchen-sitting, pub-talking, and murder under the bombs.

[Nooilforpacifists · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lawton has become a far better writer as compared with the first book he wrote, "Black Out". This novel, though written sixth, actually begins the series.

I wish I could give it more than four stars. But it has a fundamental flaw: Lawton can't make up his mind whether he's writing a sprawling multi-generational family series -- say Delderfield's "God Is An Englishman" -- or a murder mystery. In consequence, the first two thirds are the former--and reasonably interesting. Then the bulk of the narrative frame shifts to the latter, all but dropping the threads of the family crisis (which is solved by Deus ex machina).

Still, it's entertaining, and -- for an American -- he sure tries to sound English (note: not British).

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Second Violin by John Lawton is the sixth book (in publication order) of the Frederick Troy historical mystery series, set in Germany, Austria and England starting in 1938. Events predate earlier books of the series, introducing key characters, backstories, relationships. Series books (in publication order) jump back and forth in time, by decades. Wikipedia lists the series books in plot-chronological order: Second Violin, Bluffing Mr. Churchill, Black Out, A Lily of the Field, Old Flames, Friends and Traitors, Flesh Wounds, A Little White Death.

Reading in plot-chronological order would probably make more sense to a reader. But starting with Second Violin might not 'hook' a reader to continue the series, as Black Out does. Second Violin is a long slog (even drags in spots). It provides a myriad of subplots (history lessons), whose primary characters are not connected until far later. Primary series protagonist Frederick Troy doesn't play a role until over halfway through.

Second Violin begins with a series of anecdotes chronicling persecution of the Jews in Europe. Alexei Troitsky (Russian emigre, English newspaper mogul, buddy to Churchill) pens a blistering editorial criticizing the British 'head in the sand' attitude to the persecution in Europe. Anecdotes build up to Kristallnacht. Roderick Troy, the eldest son of Alex Troy, experiences Kristallnacht firsthand.

Younger brother Scotland Yard Sergeant Frederick Troy is assigned a Special Branch task under a nasty officer: round up aliens for internment. Surprise, surprise: Rod was born in Vienna; even with powerful father Alex, he is interned as an alien on the Isle of Man. Meanwhile (chapters alternate between brothers) Frederick investigates the serial murders of rabbis by day, and tomcats by night. Zette, one of his voracious-sex-appetite partners, takes him to a park where couples gather after dark for sex (not because they don't have private flats or bedrooms, just because they can) where 'ye olde rubber johnnie seller' hawks rubbers, both new and used: 'A good rinse and a light dusting with chalk and a rubber johnny ought to last a month'.

Plenty of amusement along with education in this saga. Lines to savor:

On his seventy-fifth birthday he had told his editors, 'History can now wait for me.' Usually history waited until he had his first cup of coffee in his hand.

a lanky Englishman so English his furled umbrella remained furled in the worst of weathers

'Kings and Tyrants come and go, Rothschilds go on forever'. If that is not the motto of the Rothschild family, it should be.

Out of office might, on one of his black dog days, seem an obscurity tantamount to invisibility to Churchill. Alex saw it as self-pity

Strasbourg in France, a town that found itself in Germany or in France from one time to another, depending on who was winning.

The look on the clerk's face was part of Hummel's immediate education in the ways of the French nation. The way the man rubbed his thumb of his right hand against the first two fingers spoke more than words. Was this a country in which one could bribe one's way?

Vienna before Sigmund was 'Freud' in the one-word way Picasso was 'Picasso' or Shakespeare 'Shakespeare'.

'My dream told me there was not plenty of time. I saw the grim reaper. He had a bell rather than a scythe but I knew him all the same. I saw myself go from anonymity to fame to oblivion in the course of a rather large cup of coffee.'

If one knew at any given moment the significance of that moment, would one behave differently or merely take notes? ... This was one of the moments that changed lives. And his changed.

'Mice don't shape up, they just get eaten.'

'Blurred ethnic lines? In a country led by a man of dubious parentage and racial origin?'

'Hitler will plunge us all into war the way Napoleon did. And what were the wars of Napoleon but a world war for which we did not yet have the name?'

Special Branch were, in Troy's opinion, legalized thugs - door-kickers, head-crackers all - and to be in the Branch required no police skill other than a blind obedience to orders

the motley threat, this fearsome horde of pastry chefs and tailors

Given the author's meticulous historical research, this error is surprising: high equinoctial sunlight slanting the through the gaps where the paint had peeled. A summer's afternoon

Elohim Synagogue, the formal name of Market Street Synagogue, I. I., faced Market Street with a vast frontage. A huge circular window, a stained glass star of David twenty feet wide, and dozens of little columns, all contributing to a rather Moorish effect, a hint of southern Spain and Granada. In short, it was a grandiose Brick testament to the first generation of Jewish immigrants to make money in Brick Lane - 'we're here, we're staying, we're Jews'. They'd spent their money on this - a dignified statement about God or a fist in the face, depending on your viewpoint. The next generation had spent their money on detached houses and pretentious porches in Golders Green.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series moves back in time to Kristallnacht in 1938, to the war's beginning in 1939 and the Battle of Britain and then the Blitz in 1940.

We get a better view of the events that shaped members of the family Troy: patriarch and newspaper magnate Alexei, whose social democratic roots run back to Russia's failed Revolution of 1905; oldest son Rod, a journalist and rising politico suddenly interned because, born abroad, he never took out British citizenship; and the series' focus Fred Troy (or just Troy, he hates being called Fred), a young copper just promoted from beat bobby to Scotland Yard detective.

The action here focuses on Britain's Jews, specifically those who recently fled persecution in Germany and Austria, only to find themselves interned as enemy aliens when Britain goes to war.

We get a truly chilling view at Vienna's Kristallnacht through the eyes of Josef Hummel, a young tailor who watches as the other Jewish tailors on his street are arrested, killed or forced to flee. With nothing left, he must do the same.

No Jew in London feels more British than Billy Jacks, a Jewish tailor with whom Hummel lodges once he arrives. Jacks is a quintessential cockney, parochial in every way. But he, too, is no British citizen. He was born in Danzig, now German but Polish when he was born there. Xenophobic English authorities don't care and intern him anyway.

Some of the best stuff here is the upper class toff Rod Troy's mingling with Jacks, Hummel and other Jewish refugees at their internment camp on the Isle of Man.

Fred Troy, meanwhile, first must assist in the distasteful task of rounding up enemy aliens like Jacks and Hummel. Then, as the Blitz gets under way, he stumbles across a serious crime. London's rabbis start dying. No one else sees a pattern, but he does.

We see the colorfully random nature of his love life which continues throughout the series, where he tumbles into relationships he never seems to choose but which then define him. Here he juggles Cockney policewoman Kitty Stilton with the Jewish sophisticate Isabelle Borg. Plus there was that thing with Jacks's wife.

Lawton spoils things, for me, with his hateful and gratuitous insulting of George W. Bush in an afterword, plus classifying a couple of his Jewish protagonists as heroically anti-Zionist in later years. If he doesn't get Israel's right to be a state and defend itself, he needs to check himself for anti-Semitism. I'm docking him a star.

[Sam Reaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Lawton's Inspector Troy series is confusing to keep track of, as the publication order is not the same as the chronological order of the stories, and some of the books had different titles in the U.S. and the U.K. I'm still trying to sort them all out, but the ones I've read have been terrific. They cover the career and personal life of a Scotland Yard detective from the late thirties to the early sixties, from the Blitz through the Profumo scandal. Nominally detective novels, they are literary thrillers that allow Lawton to explore a big chunk of British social history.
The hook is that Inspector Frederick Troy is the son of a wealthy Russian immigrant who settled in Britain following the Russian revolution and became a media tycoon; Troy and his siblings are fervently British while being keenly aware of their roots. Further, Troy's decision to join the police is seen as a betrayal of his posh background; these contrasts let Lawton poke at stereotypes of nationality and class as Troy pursues killers.
This entry revolves around Troy's elder brother Roderick, who is interned as an enemy alien in the early days of the war because he was born in Austria; it will all get sorted out eventually but in the meantime someone is killing rabbis in the East End under cover of the nightly bombing raids. The trail leads Troy to a gaggle of British fascists, causing him to wonder why his brother is interned and not these upper-class twits.
Frankly, the plot of these books is less important than the characters and the atmospherics, the recreation of a period of British history. Great stuff for fans of historical fiction, in the same vein as Joseph Kanon and Philip Kerr.

[Mick Scrimshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read another John Lawton novel about twenty years ago featuring the same wartime detective solving a case with the London Blitz as the back drop. I can’t remember a single thing about it other than I enjoyed it, and on the basis of that plunged into this book. Written much later but set chronologically before the earlier one I had read, this wasn’t so much a detective story as a dip into World War Two history and politics. As a rule I’m not keen on historical novels because I never feel confident about working out what is historical fact and what is artistic license but I used to read quite a bit of history about this period and had therefore a working knowledge of some of the events and people mentioned in the book. I knew about the civilian internment camps on the Isle of Man that feature in the first half of the book and recognised some of the characters as being real. I knew for example that Hore-Belisha had been a Conservative Cabinet minister, so I quite enjoyed the first two thirds of the book which really focused on the scene setting and major events of the time and came well before a murder had even taken place. But as a detective story or whodunit, it really wasn’t up to much, with a lot of the focus on other characters not directly linked to the case, and while I obviously don’t want to give anything way, the ending and the solution to the murders was also a bit of a letdown. So, four stars because it was interesting from a World War two point of view but only two stars for the detective story giving an overall average of three.

[John Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave it a try, but made it only to page 110. I picked the book up as "an Inspector Troy thriller," but Inspector Troy made no appearance in the first quarter of the book, nor is this a thriller; in fact, the part that I read was a grim historical novel set in Vienna during the Nazi takeover and the beginning of the Jewish genocide. I'm aware of many of the ways that the Nazis stole the dignity from their victims before dispatching them, and I didn't enjoy reading about it again. And after reading it, I found the idea of this book somehow finally turning into "an Inspector Troy thriller," with the escapist lack of seriousness that the label implies, tasteless.

I kept going for 110 pages partly because the book *is* better written than your average murder mystery, and I wanted to know why the reviewer at the Chicago Tribune found Lawton as good as Le Carré. But ultimately, even the writing fell through for me as historical characters were introduced. The portrayal of Churchill was believable enough, but I found Lawton's Freud too sweet-tempered and gregarious for a man suffering from a painful, terminal cancer of the jaw, and Lawton's H.G. Wells was a mere caricature apparently designed to make socialists seem silly.

I admire Lawton's ambition, but it seems misplaced.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are several authors that I would like to interview and John Lawton is one of them. I would ask him if he started out to write his series of Troy novels by jumping from decade to decade and back again. Perhaps, he secretly completed them all and then decided to have them published in random order. It is a very clever method to hook the reader. I have managed to listen to the first 6, read to me by fabulous multilingual narrators, in just a few weeks. There is so much history and rich trivia in each one.

This one has Rod as the main character for the first part, as he is interned with other “Undesirables” in the early days of the war. Some of these people were rounded up by Rod’s brother, Freddy, as required by law. The overlapping of anecdotes in different books reinforces the readers knowledge of the characters.

[Lysergius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fine read from John Lawton taking the reader into previously explored places and asking questions not answered before. The novel moves at a fine pace, characters are introduced and just as quickly killed off. Set against the background of the London blitz where anything is possible, this is a fascinating tale of the Troy families continued adventures in Blighty. It raises questions such as, "What is Nationality?" What is the difference between Nazi barbed wire and Allied barbed wire?" and so on, very relevant in this post Brexit world.

One small point though, the publishers really need to run a spell checker over the text. There is no excuse for "shool" for "school"!

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadnt read any of the Troy series before, but it did look as if it could be read as a stand alone novel. I I really enjoyed this book, which gave a different take on some of the aspects of WW2, especially the internment of those deemed to be "enemy aliens" despite some of them having lived in England for decades, and the escaping of Jews from Vienna, some of whom end up in the internment camp too. . Troy the policeman tries to do the right things at the expense of his relationship with his superiors who hates Troys somewhat upper class background, as Troy doggedly pursues a murderer.

[Michael Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first book in the series was blackout, and then I realized books jumped around in the timeline.
So I read this, which happens first chronologically.
Mostly all back story, especially for Rod. Frederick doesn't appear until about 25% in, and the murder to investigate about 50% into the book.
Since I've only read one book, will be interesting to see how knowing the history affects the reading.
Not much in this book, but fans of the series probably really enjoyed it as it was the 6th written

[Ernie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised to find Sergeant Troy now transported to London in the 1940's war years and investigating the murder of rabbis. Mosley's friends and other anti-semites are the focus on this novel with a very apt subplot about the treatment of so-called enemy aliens, mosty Jewish refugees who had fled Nazi Germany. Freud was the most notable exception. Lawton uses his historical references well to represent life in the internment camp on the Isle of Man convincingly, alongside graphic accounts of life under the London Blitz.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found a new favorite author.
Glad I started with this book, that although it is not his first, it is the first in the Inspector Troy Series. I was transported to Vienna during Kristallnacht and then during London WWII. I actually felt empathy for what the Londoners were experiencing through the words of Mr. Lawton. Crisp writing, but sometimes downright poetic.

Setting, characters, plot and words=Perfection.

[Diogenes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb read; fascinating interrelated stories, families and places magically meshed together bringing tragedy, hope and recovery into an epic tale of pre-war Europe. There's subtle irony, (British soldiers behaving like Nazis with internees), satiric humor as English class and accents confound each other; snobbery and reverse-snobbery and poignant drama as refugees are interned and are treated much like that which they thought they escaped. This is storytelling at its best.

[Carol McKnight · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more for the coverage of history in pre-WW2 Europe and early WW2 in England, than as a good story. Kristellnacht in Vienna, Sigmund Freud coming to England, the round up of Jews and Germans as enemy aliens for internment in the Isle of Man. The murder of rabbis in London and Sgt Troy’s investigation seem more like an after thought, whereas it is advertised as an Inspector Troy thriller. Not really.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

half of a good book

Half of this book is up to the standard of the previous Inspector Troy novels. The first half, I’m afraid, is deathly dull. There’s too much Alexei and not enough Frederick. The central mystery of the book doesn’t make an appearance until late, its solution is never shared, and two key characters only survive through a trick on par with Indiana Jones’ nuke-proof fridge. I hope this is merely a low point in the quality of this otherwise excellent series.

[Tess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did I like it? Did I REALLY like it? I don't know. I couldn't figure out who was supposed to be the main character until halfway through the book. We had a bit of one guy, then another bloke for a quarter of the book, then a new guy for the next third of the book, then back to the second guy for a couple of chapters. And it was LONG. Things just kept happening, but I'm not sure there was an arc of any kind--character or plot.

[Christopher Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. The earlier books took us from the 1940's into the early 1960's but with this we go back to the late 1930's and Troy's Dad, Alex Troy makes more of an appearance which works pretty well. Also describes the wartime detention of "aliens" on the Isle of Man, which I was not aware of before. Well written and good plot.

[Johanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like these, again the murders are second to the political and social events of the period. In this case internment and the beginning of WWII. Troy himself probably appears less than his brother, always worth a read intelligent political and social comment with a bit of procedural thrown in too.