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Turncoat
It begins with the appearance of a stranger at his door -- an unwelcome visitor ranting madly about money, death, and forgiveness; a man known all too well to Pete's distraught wife, her father. The next day the man is dead -- and Lily disappears, leaving a note behind begging Pete not to follow. Now, with a business card from an antiques dealer in Barcelona as his only lead, Pete Simon embarks on a twisted and perilous journey that will carry him to places where the hideous crimes of the Nazi aggressors remain fresh in the minds of those who cannot forget ... or forgive. But each door he opens leads him deeper into a painful and shocking past. And suddenly an ordinary American has become more than a concerned husband and seeker of a bitter truth; he has become the target of desperate, dangerous men and their terrifying vengeance. A haunting parable of good and evil and all the shifting shades of humanity in between, by the Edgar Award-winning master of suspense.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
99 people are currently reading
228 people want to read
About the author
Aaron Elkins
55 books338 followersAaron J. Elkins, AKA Aaron Elkins (born Brooklyn July 24, 1935) is an American mystery writer. He is best known for his series of novels featuring forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver—the 'skeleton detective'. The fourth Oliver book, Old Bones, received the 1988 Edgar Award for Best Novel. As Oliver is a world-renowned authority, he travels around the world and each book is set in a different and often exotic locale.
In another series, the protagonist is museum curator Chris Norgren, an expert in Northern Renaissance art.
One of his stand-alone thrillers, Loot deals with art stolen by the Nazis and introduces protagonist Dr. Benjamin Revere.
With his wife, Charlotte Elkins, he has also co-written a series of golf mysteries about LPGA member Lee Ofsted. They shared an Agatha Award for their short story "Nice Gorilla".
Aaron and Charlotte live on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.
Japanese: アーロン エルキンズ
Series:
* Lee Ofsted (with Charlotte Elkins)
Series contributed to:
* Malice Domestic
In another series, the protagonist is museum curator Chris Norgren, an expert in Northern Renaissance art.
One of his stand-alone thrillers, Loot deals with art stolen by the Nazis and introduces protagonist Dr. Benjamin Revere.
With his wife, Charlotte Elkins, he has also co-written a series of golf mysteries about LPGA member Lee Ofsted. They shared an Agatha Award for their short story "Nice Gorilla".
Aaron and Charlotte live on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.
Japanese: アーロン エルキンズ
Series:
* Lee Ofsted (with Charlotte Elkins)
Series contributed to:
* Malice Domestic
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
April 27, 2015
Elkins has written a quite good mystery story. Also, the locations - mainland France & Corsica - are well presented. But the real strength of the book is the powerful description of what it was like in post-war France, as the resistance fighters sought revenge from those they defined as collaborators. The choices, or lack thereof, that French people had when confronted with lethal Nazi terror, offered insight into what it must have been to live under Nazi occupation. Not as bad as Auschwitz, for sure, but still horrible.
July 16, 2009
I love Aaron Elkins. His writing is so descriptive but not dry or boring. Not a lot of external action, just enough, but a good amount of inner dialogue from the main character. He's an easy read, very informative and instructive but his characters are charming and believable. Just an enjoyable read I could not put down...recommended to WWII fans, French Resistance fans, Nazi vs Allie...
March 5, 2013
Not one of the series titles, this one is about the impact of World War II on the French, and takes place in the mid-1960s. Pretty good mystery.
May 31, 2011
Nearly twenty years after WWII ended, history professor Pete Simon discovers his distraught wife yelling at a stranger on their doorstep. Only the stranger is Lily Simon's father, who according to her had been shot and killed by the Nazis in France. When her father is beaten to death and his wife disappears, Pete slowly takes a long journey to discover the truth. It takes him to Spain to find his father-in-law's business partner, to France to learn about collaboration and long-held grudges, and finally to Corsica.
While the story has a good deal of interesting travel, the characters are rather dull. Lily and her father hardly exist at all except during Pete's musings. He is a man who muses long and frequently, and in spite of all that musing, still manages to be incredibly stupid about rather straight-forward things. For example, two men break into his home, beat him with a club, his wife disappears, and he doesn't want to tell the police about it because they couldn't possibly mean to harm her. But he will get on an airplane and fly from New York to Europe to look for her just in case she happens to be there.
Not one of Aaron Elkins' finer works.
While the story has a good deal of interesting travel, the characters are rather dull. Lily and her father hardly exist at all except during Pete's musings. He is a man who muses long and frequently, and in spite of all that musing, still manages to be incredibly stupid about rather straight-forward things. For example, two men break into his home, beat him with a club, his wife disappears, and he doesn't want to tell the police about it because they couldn't possibly mean to harm her. But he will get on an airplane and fly from New York to Europe to look for her just in case she happens to be there.
Not one of Aaron Elkins' finer works.
August 20, 2009
This story starts in 1963 Brooklyn, when a mild-mannered history professor answers a knock on his door. It's an old man ranting & yelling in barely understandable English. The professor's French-born wife tells the old man to leave and pushes him away and slams the door. The next day the police arrive and tell the prof & wife that the old guy is dead, having been murdered. The old man is the father of the wife and the story leads back to France, where the past suddenly becomes alive. It seems that the father had been a Nazi collaborator, rather than a victim. Soon, the wife vanishes leaving a note begging the prof not to try to find her. Of course, he does. The book is better written than this review. I highly recommend it.
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December 28, 2013This is not one of Elkins usual books. It is a stand-alone rather than one of his series.
Pete and Lily have had a good marriage ever since they met shortly after WWII, nearly 20 years ago. This all changes when Lily's father, whom Pete thought was dead, shows up at their doorstep and is later murdered. After Lily leaves him, Pete begins his search to find out his wife's real past in France during WWII. This, of course leads to more murder and adventures.
Like other of Elkins' books, this is more talk and thought oriented than action packed, but it kept me up until past midnight to see what happened to Pete and Lily.
Pete and Lily have had a good marriage ever since they met shortly after WWII, nearly 20 years ago. This all changes when Lily's father, whom Pete thought was dead, shows up at their doorstep and is later murdered. After Lily leaves him, Pete begins his search to find out his wife's real past in France during WWII. This, of course leads to more murder and adventures.
Like other of Elkins' books, this is more talk and thought oriented than action packed, but it kept me up until past midnight to see what happened to Pete and Lily.
April 9, 2016
I enjoy Elkins's Chris Norgren novels and his Oliver Gideon novels. I also like the golf-themed novels he co-authored with his wife. Turncoat was an entirely different matter!
The publishing date on the book is 2006, but I wonder if this book wasn't an early manuscript that lay around in a drawer for 45 years.
The first 3/4 of the book were interesting, but the final quarter was melodramatic, silly and predictable. I finished the book, but it was a struggle.
The publishing date on the book is 2006, but I wonder if this book wasn't an early manuscript that lay around in a drawer for 45 years.
The first 3/4 of the book were interesting, but the final quarter was melodramatic, silly and predictable. I finished the book, but it was a struggle.
September 1, 2012
Good story that I enjoyed listening to while driving to work.
February 28, 2015
This was a good historical mystery. I plan to read more by this author.
November 16, 2021
A dream. A film. A cranky old man resurrected from the dead, maybe, who then proceeds to become really and truly dead. A couple of professors in Brooklyn College. A piece of 1,000-year-old treasure. A couple of heavies who break into the pleasant little house in Bensonhurst. A disappearing wife. A newspaper clipping. These are the components of a narrative that, despite taking place in the 1960s, is really a World War II tale that takes the protag to a little town in France; to Barcelona; to Corsica. Elkins is at his best when writing about the Skeleton Detective, who does NOT make an appearance here. Although engaging, the syrupy-sweet romance between the middle-aged couple; the whirlwind leaps from this location to that; and the sheer unlikelihood of the ultimate tell give the plot an awkwardness and the twists a sense of being contrived that make this story just okay.
September 2, 2018
Back in the 90s I read almost the entire Gideon Oliver series by Aaron Elkins and I loved every one of them. But for some reason I just stopped reading his books. I still bought them but I wasn't reading them. After sitting on my self for 16 years I picked up Turncoat for something to read while I was on the exercise bike. The book was such a compelling read that I dropped everything else that I was reading and I blew through this book. If you like a real page-turner of a thriller or reading about the aftermath of WWII then I highly recommend this book.
May 28, 2025
Although I nearly put the book down after a few chapters, it picked up dramatically at about the 25% mark on my kindle. Indeed, from that point on, the story was filled with nonstop twists and turns right up to the end of the novel. As more was revealed with each chapter, I found myself feeling some unexpected compassion for the plight of several characters who initially appeared to be villains. In this regard, while I am somewhat of a history buff, the authors presented a side of the Nazi occupation of France that I had never previously considered. All in all, a great read.
January 17, 2021
The past is never past
An unwelcome visitor from Lily's past arrives at night and shoves a canister of movie film into her hands. She slams the door on him, her father. Thus begins a
nightmare for her husband when Lily disappears later that night. His search for her leads him to discover a link between father and a partner who did business with Nazis during WW2 and a dangerous mission uncovered. Fast paced, well written, and a nice history lesson.
An unwelcome visitor from Lily's past arrives at night and shoves a canister of movie film into her hands. She slams the door on him, her father. Thus begins a
nightmare for her husband when Lily disappears later that night. His search for her leads him to discover a link between father and a partner who did business with Nazis during WW2 and a dangerous mission uncovered. Fast paced, well written, and a nice history lesson.
February 7, 2023
Published in 2014, Elkins brings food for thought on how we judge the actions of our neighbors and ourselves during a crisis, and that it isn’t so easy to choose the moral high ground when survival is at stake.
January 16, 2018
First time reading anything by this author and it seemed lengthy but it was informative and kept me reading. A few good twists and delicious descriptions of foods and the scenery.
March 25, 2018
A good look at a part of history not commonly taught.
My only question: Why didn't Pete look for Lilly's passport instead of deciding that she must have still been in the US?
My only question: Why didn't Pete look for Lilly's passport instead of deciding that she must have still been in the US?
August 21, 2018
Very well written and entertaining.
May 15, 2020
Audiobook performed by Christopher Lane
So well written I didn’t mind how worn a WWII story seemed at the outset.
So well written I didn’t mind how worn a WWII story seemed at the outset.
November 11, 2021
Not to my liking even though I did finish it….like the skeleton detective series the best
May 5, 2022
serviceable plot, old fashioned writing style, terrible conversion from cd to mp3
April 19, 2025
It was ok… imo transitions between chapters needed work.
December 19, 2021
Turncoat is my first brush with Aaron Elkins, and I will be definitely exploring more of his work. This novel is a superb page-turner, combining sympathetic characters with intertwined mysteries in a tale well-paced and well spun. The combination of personal drama, murder, and deep mystery makes for a superb read.
The protagonist is a medieval historian forced to explore recent history, searching for his missing wife and her mysterious past. The cover image of an ominous swastika may overwhelm or misdirect. Although the Nazi occupation of France is an important plot device, this is genuinely more the story of individual characters and community and how humanity judges itself. The dynamics of judgment are the threads that really ground and draw together this story, and in this, the author is brilliantly clever. There is limited predictability here - certainly for me - and the pace of revealing and changing settings makes a gripping and engaging read. Although historically inspired, this novel doesn't tread heavily on reciting historical events as a plot. Instead, it is an imagined tale set in its own ecosystem, distanced from textbook delivery. Set in the early 1960s, there is only a tiny hint of the particularities of the period. The period seems chosen to enable the protagonists' appropriate ages rather than being crucial for the wider setting. At times there seems to be a logistic sense that the characters exist in modern times (ease and availability of air travel and global awareness). Only the evident absence of the internet, instantaneous messaging, and facts at your fingertips being unavailable necessitates a drawn-out and experiential fact-finding mission that would may not as familiar to us today.
The writing is tight and very well crafted - purely readable, relatable, and believable.
The protagonist is a medieval historian forced to explore recent history, searching for his missing wife and her mysterious past. The cover image of an ominous swastika may overwhelm or misdirect. Although the Nazi occupation of France is an important plot device, this is genuinely more the story of individual characters and community and how humanity judges itself. The dynamics of judgment are the threads that really ground and draw together this story, and in this, the author is brilliantly clever. There is limited predictability here - certainly for me - and the pace of revealing and changing settings makes a gripping and engaging read. Although historically inspired, this novel doesn't tread heavily on reciting historical events as a plot. Instead, it is an imagined tale set in its own ecosystem, distanced from textbook delivery. Set in the early 1960s, there is only a tiny hint of the particularities of the period. The period seems chosen to enable the protagonists' appropriate ages rather than being crucial for the wider setting. At times there seems to be a logistic sense that the characters exist in modern times (ease and availability of air travel and global awareness). Only the evident absence of the internet, instantaneous messaging, and facts at your fingertips being unavailable necessitates a drawn-out and experiential fact-finding mission that would may not as familiar to us today.
The writing is tight and very well crafted - purely readable, relatable, and believable.
September 21, 2015
This mystery about a man searching for answers about his wife's disappearance is a fairly good book; Elkins' easy writing style can't be faulted, the locations are unique, and it has a satisfying ending, but I somehow felt that it was lacking something. It's a little repetitive.
The book is set, of necessity, in the past, dealing as it does with the ramifications of the Occupation of France in World War II. It's November 1963, and even though the blurb on the book cover mentions the assassination of JFK, this event gets only a passing one-time mention and is completely irrelevant. In those days, WWII was recent rather than ancient history, and the characters have lived through the War, the Occupation and its aftermath and remember it clearly. But other than a brief reference to Idlewild and Leslie Caron, and the fact that no one is using a cell phone, it's too easy to forget that it IS 1963 in the book. There just isn't any Sixties atmosphere here.
The book is set, of necessity, in the past, dealing as it does with the ramifications of the Occupation of France in World War II. It's November 1963, and even though the blurb on the book cover mentions the assassination of JFK, this event gets only a passing one-time mention and is completely irrelevant. In those days, WWII was recent rather than ancient history, and the characters have lived through the War, the Occupation and its aftermath and remember it clearly. But other than a brief reference to Idlewild and Leslie Caron, and the fact that no one is using a cell phone, it's too easy to forget that it IS 1963 in the book. There just isn't any Sixties atmosphere here.
July 12, 2015
I'd go 2.5 if I could. Pete Simmons is a stereotypical mild college professor. Right after JFK is assassinated, Pete's wife's Father shows up on their doorstep spewing nonsense. Everything Pete thought he knew about his wife is turned upside down - she told him her Father was killed in France during WWII. When his wife goes on the lam, he decides to track her down.
What follows is an interesting lesson on life under Nazi rule, collaboration and the very real effects on the people in France. That part I found interesting. JFK is a red herring and the story wrapped up a little too neatly and quickly at the end. That part I found less interesting.
What follows is an interesting lesson on life under Nazi rule, collaboration and the very real effects on the people in France. That part I found interesting. JFK is a red herring and the story wrapped up a little too neatly and quickly at the end. That part I found less interesting.
February 15, 2016
As the story brought Peter Simon from New York to France and Spain I learned about France after the end of the war and the feelings associated with living under Nazi domination. Hidden within a murder mystery is the exploration of French guilt of collaboration and the hostility toward revisionist historians. I picked this book up because the audio format was available from my local library. It was entertaining and the narrator excellent.
August 18, 2016
Not nearly as fast-paced and intriguing as "Loot", but it tells a story as unique as the landscape of Europe during WWII.
Some of the plot seemed to be lost during Pierre Simon's search for his wife. The back and forth lost and found game got a little old, but the interesting exchanges between characters involving the cultural heritage of Corsica made up for any shortcomings.
Overall, another wonderful novel by Elkins, albeit not one of my favorites.
Some of the plot seemed to be lost during Pierre Simon's search for his wife. The back and forth lost and found game got a little old, but the interesting exchanges between characters involving the cultural heritage of Corsica made up for any shortcomings.
Overall, another wonderful novel by Elkins, albeit not one of my favorites.
February 16, 2016
Peter Simon's life falls apart on the day his wife's supposedly deceased father shows up at the doorstep. He tries to give her a film canister but she slams the door in his face and refuses to explain to Peter. Then she disappears. Pete begins a journey into his wife's past that leads him into the darkest corners or WWII. A real page turner with a few good twists.
November 9, 2014
I don't read many mysteries, but this mystery-lite is a good match for me. The writing is good, keeping me hooked, weaving in bits of history without getting dull. The characters are likeable, and largely believable.
June 5, 2008
Not a superlative example of the suspense/thriller genre. However, very interesting stuff on French collaboration during WW2.
September 2, 2008
Another Nazi story. I think I liked Loot better, although Loot was gorier - more people beat up in that one if I have my stories straight...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews