No Precious Truth

Cathy Marsden #1

by Chris Nickson

The first in a brand-new WWII historical thriller series introduces Sergeant Cathy Marsden – a female police officer working for the Special Investigation Branch – who risks her life to protect the city of Leeds from an escaped German spy!

Leeds, 1941. As the war rages across Europe, Police Sergeant Cathy Marsden’s life since she was seconded to the Special Investigation Branch has remained focused on deserters and home-front crimes. Until now.

Things take a chilling turn when Cathy’s civil servant brother, Dan, arrives from London with a dark he is working for the XX Committee – a special MI5 unit set up to turn German spies into double agents. But one of these agents has escaped and is heading for Leeds, sent to destroy targets key to the war effort. Suddenly Cathy and the squad are plunged into an unfamiliar world of espionage and subterfuge.

With the fate of the country and the war in the balance, failure is not an option, and Cathy must risk everything, including her own life, to stop a spy.

This fast-paced World War II thriller is perfect for fans of Kate Quinn, Rhys Bowen and Kelly Rimmer!

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, World War II, Historical Mystery, Mystery, British Literature, Espionage

238 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2025

About the author

I'm a novelist and music journalist, the author of many books set between the 1730s and 1950s in Leeds, as well as others in medieval Chesterfield and 1980s Seattle.

Above all, though, its Leeds I love, the people, the sense of the place changing with time. Yes, I write mysteries, but ultmiateoly they're books about people and their relationships, and the crime becomes a moral framework for the story.

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It will come as no surprise to those who follow my reviews, that I’m a huge fan of author Chris Nickson, so imagine my excitement to discover that there’s a new series to follow.

“No Precious Truth” introduces us to Sergeant Cathy Marsden of the Leeds City Police in the North of England, and is set amidst the air raids of 1941 by the Luftwaffe.

Cathy is a police sergeant, walking a beat and supervising women police constables - until now that is. She’s been seconded to the Special Investigation Branch. Previously the SIB have concentrated on deserters and crimes on the home front.

However, things have taken a chilling turn with the arrival of Cathy’s civil servant brother, Dan. He has travelled from London with a dark secret: he is working for the XX Committee – a special MI5 unit set up to turn German spies into double agents. Dan brings bad news - one of these spies has disappeared, but it’s known that his destination was Leeds!

Though she doesn’t know it yet, Cathy’s about to put her life in jeopardy as part of a team, trying to protect their beloved city from an escaped German spy with malicious intent, and it’s going to take an incredible amount of time, footwork and brainstorming to try and catch him, because this is one cunning and determined individual!

This is a great historical WWII espionage thriller, with a protagonist that is instantly likeable. Cathy is hard working, intuitive, conscientious, and has a good heart, and I really look forward to what life has in store for her in the future. As ever, a big thumbs up to the author for the huge amount of research that he undertakes - it shows Chris!

*My thanks to Severn House for my ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review *

[eyes.2c · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spies and traitors!

Leeds during World War II, police sergeant Cathy Marsden has been seconded to Special Investigations Branch seeking criminal gangs and deserters. Now espionage is added—a whole new game.
They’ve been joined by an MI5 operative desperately seeking an escaped German agent who’s been passing himself off as a Dutchman. A man the MI5 committee, the Twenty or XX, had hoped to turn. The MI5 agent is Cathy’s brother Daniel.
The only woman amongst a few men, most accept her, except for one recalcitrant colleague. Cathy has proved herself time and again, able to question people, including women, who have little time for the authorities. Many know her from her time on the beat, and take heed.
The group comes close to catching the agent Jan Minuit. He’s joined forces with the head of a criminal gang. The criminal’s motive is straight up money, now he’s a traitor.
Cathy has a close encounter with Minuit, and an even closer one that had me on the edge of my seat.
Leeds during the bliz was not a great place to be. The population is at the beginning of the war, on the edge of rationing. Large scale black market racketeering, liquor production and stolen goods is rife.
This latest story from Nickson gives us glimpses into the strength of character, even the criminals, of the people of the author’s beloved city.

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

[Alondra Hance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has you hooked since the beginning. I’ve been looking for a thriller that could capture my attention and this was the one. I can’t wait to see what this series develops into.

[David Prestidge · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my reading experience, there is no living writer so closely associated with one place than Chris Nickson. Phil Rickson had his Welsh Marches, Robert B Parker had his Boston, Colin Dexter had his Oxford and Christopher Fowler had his (peculiar) London. Sadly, Time has borne those four sons away, but Nickson’s Leeds is now rediscovered in the first of a new series.

It is February 1941. Cathy Marsden is a Sergeant in the Leeds police, but has been seconded to the Special Investigations Bureau, a unit recently set up to investigate black marketeers and other criminals looking to make money out of the war. She is astonished when her older brother, Daniel, turns up at the office. As far as she was aware he was humdrum civil servant in London, pushing pens and folders of documents from one desk to another. Like her, however, he has been seconded, but to another top secret intelligence service, and he is in Leeds to track down a dangerous Dutch double agent called Jan Minuit.

Although I have read and enjoyed them all, Nickson’s Leeds novels tend to have a similar plot, which is basically a manhunt. This enables the author’s creations from Simon Westow to Tom Harper (who gets a brief mention here) to pound the streets of the city in search of a villain. The technical aspect of this is not complicated, as it enables Nickson to put his unparalleled knowledge of the topography to good use. He is clearly in tune with a kind of of geopsychology, which enables readers to follow the footsteps of his characters across the decades, so that thoroughfares like Briggate, The Headrow and Kirkgate become as familiar as our own back yards.

If Minuit is bent on sabotage, Leeds has two prime targets for an agent of The Third Reich. One is pretty much in the open. The Kirkstall iron foundry has been producing components for military vehicles since WW1 and is hard to disguise. The Avro factory at Yeadon, however has been covered in camouflage and disguised – from the air – as open country. This ‘shadow factory’ is working day and night to produce Lancaster bombers, as well as the less celebrated (but equally vital) Anson.

Nickson has a well-established style. It is propulsive. Short sentences. A sense of urgency. Genuine narrative drive.

“Cathy turned off the ring road and started up Wheatwood Lane.The daylight was lasting longer, barely a stretch of dusk on the horizon. Ahead of her, the hill rose steeply, fields on either side, farmland.No chance to go more than a few yards.The road was filled with police cars, a pair of ambulances and the black coroner’s van.,”

“Monday dawned sour with threatening clouds, the colour of old bruises. The air was thick and damp. Yesterday’s promise of spring had vanished like a magician’s illusion. Instead, the rain felt that it like might begin at any time. At least it would deter the Luftwaffe.”

There is a thrilling conclusion to the team’s pursuit of Jan Minuit, and it is Cathy’s resilience and strength which eventually brings the spy/saboteur to his knees. Chris Nickson’s skill lies in his ability to convince us that we are standing beside his characters and sharing their world. In this case, it is Cathy Marsden’s wartime Leeds, with its rationing and privation, its fear that clear nighttime skies will be a gift to the Luftwaffe, and the ever present fear in the hearts of local women that their father, husband, brother, son or boyfriend will be the next name on the mounting list of casualties.

Nickson also reminds us that the horrors of WW1 cast a long shadow. Cathy’s father, once a strapping Yorkshire lad, was gassed in the trenches, and over thirty years later is a wreckage of a man, struggling with the essentials of existence – such as breathing. No Precious Truth will be published by Severn House on 1st April.

[Lizzie Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is set in February 1941, when Britain is immersed in the horror and deprivation of war. Cathy Marsden is a police sergeant in Leeds who has been seconded to the SIB, the Special Investigation Branch that focuses on deserters and related crimes on the Home Front. Cathy is the only woman in a squad of tough ex-policemen, who are now part of the military, but she has proved herself and been accepted by all of the men, apart from one chauvinist, who will always snipe at her and try to undermine her. Cathy still feels that she continually needs to prove herself, and the last thing she needs is to find her older brother, Dan, standing in the SIB office. Dan has always been the clever one who put Cathy in the shade, however hard she worked. Cathy had felt pleased when he moved to London to take up a post with the Civil Service, while Cathy stayed on, living with her parents in their modest council house, and working her way up in the police force. Now Dan is back in Leeds and requiring the help of the SIB. He is now working for a new government department, known as the XX (the double cross) Committee, which is part of MI5. The role of this committee is to work on German agents that have been captured and turn them into double agents, then these agents are supposed to feed false information back to the Germans. Dan has returned to Leeds because a Dutch agent that they thought they had successfully ‘turned’ has fooled them. He has escaped from the agents who were monitoring him and has disappeared. MI5 has information that the spy, Jan Minuet, is heading to Leeds, a city he had visited before the war, and he has got maximum destruction on his mind.

MI5 are short of men, and they need the SIB to work with Dan, in order to catch Minuet before he causes irreparable destruction. They start by checking out the most likely targets for sabotage and use the army to increase their security. They also give out pictures of Minuet to all the places where he may be looking for somewhere to stay. Most taxing of all, they have to hunt down the criminals who are also traitors, who are aiding Minuet. The hunt is gruelling, dangerous, and is made even more exhausting because of nights broken by air raids, and the tension that continues to mount. Worst of all, it is bitterly frustrating, because Minuet always seems to be one step ahead of them, and his methods for dealing with anybody who gets in his way are ruthless and violent. For the first time in her life, Cathy begins to get to know her brother and understand the strain it has been for a working class boy from Leeds to try to fit in with his new public school colleagues. However, this crisis involves more desperate consequences than the destruction of Dan’s career. This dangerous and cunning spy could deal a serious blow to the British war effort, and Cathy and her colleagues must track him down and stop him, whatever the risk to their own lives.

No Precious Truth is the first book in a new series featuring Cathy Marsden. It is a compelling read, with a perfectly paced, tense plot, and engaging, believable characters. The historical details are beautifully observed and skilfully inserted, bringing alive the deprivation and tension of the Second World War. This is a page-turner, which I thoroughly recommend.
------
Reviewer: Carol Westron
For Lizzie Sirett (Mystery People Group)

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often when I read a book set during WWII, I imagine myself as the heroine of an exciting yet dangerous espionage operation, looking glamorous while I take it on. Nickson offers readers a different take – ordinary Cathy Marsden, seconded from the Leeds police department to serve in the SIB or Special Operations Bureau. SIB was part of the military police. As the book opens, Cathy’s unit is joined by her brother Dan, presently working in London in the XX Committee, a part of MI5. XX tried to turn German spies in England into counter agents, feeding disinformation back to Germany.

As part of the XX unit there’s plenty Dan cannot share with Cathy’s unit, but what he can share is that there’s a spy who escaped and it believed to be in Leeds. The man, Henry Minuit, had been such a smooth operator he was able to fool the Brits interviewing him, and catching him before he causes some kind of damage is now a top priority. Dan has been chosen for this operation because he’s from Leeds and knows the town, making finding Minuit more likely.

The SIB unit in Leeds is made up of former police, like Cathy, and they behave very much like police though their remit may be different. Their interrogation methods are more thorough. The consequences of being a traitor during wartime: death. The squad is operating on a razor’s edge, with only minimal discernible help from Dan.

The book is made memorable both by Cathy’s ordinariness, as she worries about foods and other things going “on the ration,” and lives with her parents, frequently spending nights with them in their backyard air raid shelter. She dresses comfortably, not fashionably, and because she was a beat cop, she knows Leeds like the back of her hand, something that comes in handy.

It’s also memorable because the enigmatic Dan and the phlegmatic Cathy are not entirely comfortable with one another. They learn through the book to work together and to reach an understanding, but it feels real – it’s not a fairytale change in their relationship, it’s a realistic one. Their parents are delighted to have Dan home though he’s rarely there and their mother is a born worrier.

This book also illustrates the knife’s edge of worry most women operated under during the war: where were their husbands, sweethearts, brothers and sons? Not only did most not know the answer, they also didn’t know how safe their loved ones were. Communication was by letter and not always reliable. And it was always slow.

I have read many, many books set during the war and this book took on the more day to day aspects of war. It’s not set in London, but in Leeds, a place not blitzed as London was but bombed all the same. Part of Cathy’s duties are serving as an air raid warden one night a week. I liked all this detail.

The book meanders a bit as the search for Henry Minuit intensifies. I liked the book for a different take on the war, one I think that showed what it was like for many all over Britain, but the narrative could have been a bit more rocket powered. However, I thought Cathy was a wonderful character and I’m glad I met her.

[Sarah-Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was disappointed when Chris Nickson ended his Tom Harper mystery series. Yes, it was time for that end since the plot didn't take time in an eternal now, but integrated political and cultural events across the lives of the characters. Harper, and the other characters, got older, experienced new limitations as they aged, and—just weren't immortal. Still, it was hard to see the end of Harper's career.

So I've been missing Tom Harper, and he's gone, but now Nickson has introduced me to a new central character situated in a very different time period. The new Cathy Marsden series is, like the Harper series, set in Leeds, but it's set a generation and a half of so after the Harper series, during WWII.

Marsden, as Nickson presents her, is one of the women who became involved in policing in England rather early on, and she's been moved from the usual women's work of neighborhood patrols and non-violent crime to the Special Investigations Branch (SIB), which was created during the war. Nickson notes in his afterword that Leeds didn't actually have an SIB during the war, but England did have relatively new SIBs then.

The characters are people I'm looking forward to spending more time with. There's Marsden herself, who is brave and deeply principled. There's the SIB team she works with that are smart, cooperative, and, for the most part, respectful. We meet some of her earlier colleagues from her time with the police department. And we meet her brother Dan, a sort of wunderkind who left Leeds for London as early as he could. He's been working in the "civil service" as far as his family knows. But when Dan shows up in Leeds in order to work with the SIB team, we learn that he's working with MI5, the UK's counter-intelligence and security agency. This agency was formed in 1909, but is still relatively new and a bit understaffed. Dan has an opportunity to burnish his "golden boy" image if he can find an escaped German spy, but this is difficult work and he's ridden with anxiety about the impact this case could have on his career.

Marsden and Dan are an interesting study in contrasts. Both have risen above the usual expectations for people with their working class roots. Marsden has steadily worked her way up the ranks despite facing the hostility that was directed at women in law enforcement. She's reached a point where (most of) the men she works with see her as an equal and treat her with respect. Dan has risen higher, but is still proving himself and may continue to rise—or fall.

If you enjoy historical mysteries, this is definitely a new series you should check out. My summary above gives a lot of space to Dam, but Marsden is *the* central character, and she's going to be an interesting woman to spend time with.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

War changes everything.

It turns young men and women into soldiers and sometimes their partners into widows and widowers. War shatters bodies and minds in its wake. It completely changes the familiar landscape into rubble. There are no safety zones both physically and emotionally.

And nothing proves that more than World War II itself. Chris Nickson is a favorite author because he has been blessed with an uncanny ability to feel the pulse of his characters no matter what genre he ensues. Nickson allows us to experience the dark hidden corners filled with the creeking sounds of being unsure, regretful, fearful, and sometimes even wearied by the sins of the past one tries to keep hidden.

Nickson's lead character, Sergeant Cathy Marsden, is floating in a sea of identity. She's certainly a daughter and a sister because of genetics, but she's also caught up in the winds of what role she is to play in society. She's become one of the few women in the Leeds’ police department among a league of men. It's World War II where the majority of men have been sent to the front. An opportunity avails itself for Cathy to join the Special Investigation Branch (SIB). And it is here that Cathy will rise to the occasion.

The war has brought Cathy's brother home. Dan has left London and arrived in Leeds. He's a special agent for the MI5. His mission is to locate an escaped double agent. The UK implemented German spies to work on their behalf. But this particular agent turned on his original assignment. He is now headed to Leeds where ghost factories were set up for the war effort. This agent has bad intentions and dynamite in his hands. Cathy must step it up and now run with the big dogs.

Chris Nickson is a crackerjack of a researcher and it shows in No Precious Truth. He gives us a panoramic view of Leeds in 1941 when the Germans were in the midst of their blitz campaign. Personal safety was at the core while dedicated men and women put themselves in danger for the UK and its Allies. There was also a willingness of the common people to pass along information to the powers that be. Nameless individuals who stepped up and made all the difference in the world.
Bravo, Chris Nickson, another fine one once again.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley foran honest review. My thanks to Severn House and to the talented Chris Nickson for the opportunity.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read all of Chris Nickson’s books and I believe that No Precious Truth is his best so far.

Set in 1941 in the city of Leeds, England, No Precious Truth is the story of the desperate British Security Forces search for a German spy who is determined to deal a violent and devastating blow to British war efforts and morale.

Nickson’s protagonist is Cathy Marsden, a Leeds police sergeant seconded to the newly formed Special Investigation Branch (SIB), an organization formed to fight major crimes involving the Army.

This book is excellent in all ways.

The plot proceeds with the speed of a thriller, as the threat to Leeds and Britain ratchets up with each passing day.

But this is also a police procedural, as the SIB and other Security Forces desperately seek to find and neutralize the German spy before he can damage Leeds and the British war effort, perhaps beyond repair.

The characters are fully formed; human, vulnerable, driven, brave and flawed.

The protagonist has to battle dysfunctional family dynamics, entrenched bigoted limitations on the perceived place of women in the police and in society as a whole, and her own fears of the fate of her loved ones in war, but she subsumes it all to find the spy.

The City Of Leeds is always a main character in Nickson’s mysteries, and it is here, too.

You do not have to be from Leeds or be English to understand what these people are going through, and to appreciate their bravery, and their courage.

But this Leeds is different from the Leeds of his mysteries set in earlier times.

In those mysteries, Leeds was a city of extremes, of the power of the wealthy and powerful versus everyone else.

But this Leeds is a city where all the residents face the same existential threats, the same war, the same dangers faced by all the men and women fighting in the war, and the same very real dangers of the German bombing raids of the Blitz.

Through it all, the people of Leeds must simply persevere.

As they might say, they all have to just “get on with it.”

They have no choice.

And in No Precious Truth, they do so.

Beautifully.

I look forward to reading the future adventures of Cathy Marsden.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping
It’s 1941 and a supposedly turned German spy has escaped from captivity and has come to Leeds in order to carry out some destructive orders and it’s up to the Special Investigation Branch to try and apprehend him before he succeeds
I loved this book, it’s fast paced at times but also has a realism that some books miss. The story is told from the view of Cathy Marsden who has been seconded to SIB as a person with a lot of local knowledge and contacts. I really liked Cathy, she has a difficult life that she has to balance but that just made her more real. There isn’t any glossing over her work as a police officer, that of her family life and her difficult relationship with her brother, her feelings for a solider being posted far away and as a fire watch person, there to help protect the city. She has so many different angles that I just felt myself being drawn more and more into the story and the danger of hunting for the spy
So often these kinds of stories are set in London or the South of England so it was nice to read one that is so far away from that in the North of England. I’ve never been to Leeds but the writing and the imagery made the city come to life for me and I think that ado enhanced my enjoyment of this book
As you can see, I really enjoyed this book. A spy story with a difference that has engaging characters and a story that keeps the reader hooked, wanting to know what will happen mixed in with a sense of routine, a combination that shouldn’t work but really does
I would recommend this book to those who enjoy a wartime mystery that will keep you reading long past when you have to stop
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley who allowed me access to this book

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the way that real life historical detail is used in this well researched and evocative book set in WW2.
The Special Investigation Branch, the XX Committee, and the Avro "shadow factory" were all very real. The latter was disguised to look like the landscape when seen from the air. Fake animals were literally moved by hand each day, to fool the German bombers.
There were very few women police in Leeds at this time, even in a force that would include special constables and men brought out of retirement.
In our first introduction to Sgt Cathy Marsden, she immediately impresses. She's been given a tip-off by a woman about the whereabouts of a criminal. But as she and her colleagues get ready to arrest the suspect, she spots a familiar face entering the room. It's her brother. He's now in the Security Service, in a different city.
There's a fascinating dynamic between the siblings. Daniel is immediately dismissive of her position and Cathy bristles.
Daniel has been sent to brief SIB on intelligence about a spy believed to be heading to Leeds. It's a real needle in a haystack search as they have barely no intelligence on who he is, where he's likely to be, and his mission.
Cathy has worked hard to win the respect of her squad and plays a key role in the search.
The cat and mouse pursuit is very gripping. The relationships are very well drawn. We cheer for Cathy when she scores successes, in the face of hostility from one or two senior colleagues. She is fighting more than a war: she's also fighting misogyny.
She's also a relatable heroine, trying to snag nylons from the Americans, if we can mix our metaphors, and concerned about more things "going on the ration".
I look forward to reading more of her exploits.

[Katerina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rich historical details in No Precious Truth really bring the WW2 era to life in a way not often found in works of fiction. The premise is also fascinating — a female sergeant as the protagonist, an enemy spy, a failed attempt to turn him into a double-agent for the British, a thrilling hunt with a special police taskforce on his tail, and the twists and turns as he eludes them chapter after chapter.

However, where I felt the book fell a little short was in bringing the individual characters to life. All of them had so much potential as archetypes; Cathy earning her stripes and holding her own in a male-dominated environment, her brother and his shadowy involvement with the XX, the clever and ruthless German spy on the loose... I loved the idea of each of them, but the problem is that by the last page, they were still mere wisps of ideas. We got little insight into the inner workings of their minds; motivations, feelings, backstories. For example, there's an immediate defensiveness between Cathy and her brother as soon as they're face-to-face, and yet at no point are we given any information as to the origins of the rivalry between them. We don't know what got Dan into his line of work, we don't know what drew Cathy to Tom, we don't know what their parents think about their children's careers (though we get regular peeks at their domestic routine), we don't know much about anyone, beyond their title, affiliation and immediate goals.

The problem with this is that it limits the reader's connection to the story. The best plot is only as good as the degree of investment we've developed in its main characters. This additional depth would've made it an excellent book, in my humble opinion, but even without that it still remains a solid wartime drama.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first in a new WWII historical crime procedural series, introducing Sergeant Cathy Marsden. It is February 1941 and Germany is continuing to bomb the cities of England even though the Battle of Britain is over and invasion has been averted. In Leeds Cathy Marsden has been seconded from the police force to the Special Investigation Branch ‘SIB’ as they need a female on the team. A clever and intuitive young woman she has an attitude which her boss likes and appreciates.

Briefly, Cathy’s brother Dan arrives from London and, admitting he is a member of a covert unit in MI5, links up with the SIB team looking for a Dutch double agent in Leeds, who has escaped custody. They need to track him down before he causes considerable damage to an important building. With time running out and stolen explosives missing we follow the team as the elusive spy keeps turning up and then vanishing.

Cathy is a great character, she’s a dedicated and intelligent woman who has risen to a position unusual for a woman at this time. I really warmed to her and look forward to reading more. The author has clearly done a lot of research and this added to the authenticity. This is a somber read at times with an uncompromising conclusion but it is wartime! A well paced and interesting first outing for Cathy Marsden and one I enjoyed.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the first book in a new World War II historical mystery series, readers follow Sergeant Cathy Marsden, an officer in the Special Investigation Branch, as she hunts down an escaped German spy in 1941 Leeds. When her brother Dan reveals that he is working for MI5’s XX Committee to turn German spies into double agents and that the escaped spy is headed on a sabotage mission, Cathy and the squad have to beat the clock to prevent the spy from carrying out this mission. With high stakes, an exciting plot, and fantastic historical details, thriller and historical fiction fans alike will love this intense start to a new historical thriller series. The characters are the stars of the novel, but the tension and intensity of the book really grip readers and immerse them in the story. With the variety of historical events at play, Nickson does a good job balancing the multiple events and threads of this mystery in ways which allow all elements to develop naturally. The pacing is good and the attention to detail is fantastic, and Nickson has really brought 1941 Leeds and the internal espionage wars of World War II Britain to life in this intense new book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for the advance copy.

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A competent and entertaining mystery.

I was drawn to this book because I wasn't aware women were police officers in the 1940s. Sergeant Cathy Marsden has been seconded to a special investigative team that track down deserters, and then her brother turns up needing help in his official capacity as MI5 agent. What ensues is part mystery, part thriller as the team try to track down an escaped German spy.

Although there wasn't anything especially groundbreaking in this book, I enjoyed it. I liked Cathy as a character and her uneasy relationship with her brother was well done. The mystery was engaging and kept me reading, and I liked the Leeds setting - it made a nice change from London. I'd be very happy to read more about these characters so if this is a series (which is hints it is) then I'll probably pick up the next book.

[Edna Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, @NetGalley and Chris Nickson for the ARC of this book. I’ve read many a WWII novel, but none covering the Double Cross program. I can recall taking a course where we learned a lot about the program, but that was over 20 years ago, and I’d forgotten a lot. The level of suspense was just right in this tale, keeping me motivated to find out if they’d catch the traitor in time. I’m glad I read this on my kindle, too, because there was a lot of new British slang for me, with bumf being my favorite! Bonus points to Chris for adding an Edna as a minor character (there just aren’t a lot of us out there!). I wanted to know more about the siblings—did Tom make it back from North Africa? What happened to Dan’s MI5 career? Did Elizabeth really dump him? Is there a sequel coming? Enjoyable read; being published this week (I think).

[Silver Star · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story set in WW2 Leeds. It follows Cathy, a police sergeant working for the Special Investigation Branch. When her brother arrives at her station, on the hunt for an escaped spy her team becomes embroiled in the hunt.
I love a historical detective series and instantly warmed to Cathy-a woman in a man’s world in 1941 fighting to be taken seriously. I enjoyed her story and the development of her character over the course of the book. Living near Leeds too I really enjoyed the local history part and learned a lot about policing and female policing during the war. The historical details of WW2 home-front Britain were well researched and well written.
This was a pacy, well written detective thriller with Foyle’s war, Robert Harris/Kate Quinn vibes.

Thank you to the author and random book tours for the copy for an honest review.

[Jo-anne Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Born and bred in Leeds, Sergeant Cathy Marsden has had to fight prejudice to achieve her rank and now in 1941 she is seconded to a special unit looking at war-related crime. She is surprised when her brother turns up sent from London to hunt an enemy agent believed to be planning sabotage in the city.
I am a big fan of Nickson's writings because they are based in Leeds (and also because he tells a good tale). Here the historical focus has moved to the 1940s and the sense of a city on the brink is palpable. There are lots of references to both the geography of Leeds and also to reality of wartime life but at its heart this is just a strong thriller. I hope that Nickson continues with this series as it is nice to have a female protagonist.

[Viccy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Police Sergeant Cathy Marsden has been seconded from the Leeds police department to the Special Investigative Branch (SIB) during the early days of WWII. Her team is on the hunt for deserters or Nazis working within the homeland. Cathy's brother, Dan, arrives from London with the news that a Nazi spy has escaped custody and is on his way to Leeds to destroy anything contributing to the war effort. This is a different kind of hunt. Dan is part of a super secret organization known as the XX Committee and failure to find this spy is not an option. Cathy has to employ every skill she developed as a police officer to talk to her informants and to search Leeds from top to bottom to find the culprit. A very exciting debut from an author who knows his history and his city. Recommended.

[Bryanne Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

A historical fiction thriller with a strong female protagonist...instantly caught my attention. This novel is book one in Cathy Marsden's adventures. While this is most definitely a historical fiction novel being based in the WW2 Era, I can't say I agree with the thriller label. I found this hard to get into and very slow for most of the story.

I will say I really appreciated the FMC and how not only could she hold her own with all the men in her unit, but she also remained compassionate and human during what, at times, were less than human circumstances. I would be interested to see where her journey takes her.

*Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

[Kizzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ik dacht dat ik dit een heel goed boek ging vinden. Een paar van mijn favoriete mysterie series vinden plaats in de periode van de eerste en tweede wereldoorlog. Onder andere de Brighton serie van Elly Griffiths.

Maar dit verhaal viel tegen. Ik ben gestopt met lezen rond 65%. Het verhaal met betrekking tot de oorlog, hoe de mensen toen leefden, schuilden voor de bommen, ... vond ik heel interessant. Maar het mysterie gedeelte kon mij niet bekoren. Het verhaal sprong van de hak op de tak. Ik moest regelmatig teruggaan omdat ik het verhaal kwijt was. Maar misschien had ik te veel verwachtingen. Heel spijtig.

[Emma Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had everything suspense and intrigue also the bombing.

Cathy has been seconded to the Specialist Investigation Bureau she lives with her parents and her boyfriend Tom is in the army. Her brother Dan appears from London who works for MI5 he is trying to track down a spy called Minuit. We see how Dan & Cathy work together with the rest of the team to find the spy will they find him.

I liked the story how it could be tense at times and scary it flowed and was written well. A good start to a new series.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like all of the Chris Nickson books I’ve read, although this wasn’t my favorite. I liked the characters and the way the dynamics play out among them. I sometimes thought Cathy was too modern for the 49s even during the war. Nickson’s Leeds is always another important character in his books. I enjoyed the descriptions of the rationing and the food Cathy’s mom cooked, but I was thankful I didn’t have to try any of it.

I always like WW II books set in the U K. and I’ll read the next one in this series.

[Melissa Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris Nickson pays a tribute to the women who served in the armed forces of England during World War II. Cathy Marsden is a policewoman, seconded to the Special Investigation Branch in Leeds. Her knowledge of her "patch" and her empathy for the people who live there become turning points as the SIB search for a spy who has turned the gangs of the city to his ends.

This is a very enjoyable police procedural and historical mystery. I look forward to more Marsden stories.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read numerous books by Chris Nickson and enjoyed the stories for their excitement, period detail and the many relationships formed with both family and friends in each adventure. With 'No Precious Truth' the period detail was still in abundance but I could not warm to any of the characters. The story I found awfully slow. There are only so many times in one book that you can raid a property and just miss the person your are looking for.

[Mary J. Dondanville · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent story

Needs tightening up. Could have knocked off 20 pages and lost nothing. Dan seems like a sidebar. While Cathy is well drawn, the idea of a female detective in the 40s is a joke. She would have been an old lady retired for a decade before that happened. Bob's response to women officers was the norm. But as fantasy fiction, it was ok. The descriptions of the times and the locale were wonderful.

[Avril Hemingway · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new series from this author but is still based in Leeds which I love as I was born there, This is a spy story with a difference that has engaging characters and a story that keeps the reader reading. It is also a police procedural as well as a spy story with well formed characters who are not perfect but are brave and driven. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Jim Bogue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in wartime Leeds, where a young female police sergeant is seconded to a special unit. She is startled when her brother shows up on a special mission. He is in the secret service and is looking for an escaped spy. The search is slow and allows the sergeant to use her deep knowledge of the city.
Solid procedural with interesting characters.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

February 1941 Leeds. The SIB (Special Investigation Branch) which includes on secondment Cathy Marsden, becomes involved via XX Committee and her brother Dan in tracing an escaped double agent, Dutch Jan Minuit. He is known to be in Leeds and is prepared to cause major damage to Leeds infrastructure.
An entertaining and well-written historical mystery/thriller with its cast of interesting characters. A good start to this new series.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Police Sergeant Cathy Marsden is asked to temporarily join the Special Investigation Branch.They are hunting a double agent who stays ahead one step all the time.
Light reading perhaps, but I just loved this police procedureal.