Tolkien's previous two novels featuring Oxford copper Bill Trave have been set in the 1950s, but the crimes under investigation had roots in WWII. This time Tolkien moves back to 1940 and the height of the Blitz. Trave is a young police investigator in London tracking the murder of Albert Morrison, the former head of MI6. The victim's son-in-law is the likely suspect, and Trave's boss, who prefers quick convictions, facts be damned, is ready to close the case. Thanks to a curious note found on Morrison's body, though, Trave smells a rat and not just any rat, but one that could suggest a plot to assassinate Winston Churchill. Tolkien effectively layers into the tale a wealth of fascinating historical detail, including meaty appearances by Churchill, Hitler, and Gestapo head Reinhard Heydrich. The action plays out dramaticallly against falling bombs, nights in the shelters, Churchill's Whitehall bunker, and all the archetypal trimmings of life during the Blitz. The climax seems a bit over the top, but the richness of the characters and the vivid sense of daily life in the midst of history carry the day in high style.--Ott, Bill Copyright 2010 Booklist

As German bombs light up 1940 London by night, Deputy CI John Quaid and his assistant, William Trave, are called to a murder scene: the ex-head of Britain's MI6 has been killed. Quaid decides the villain has to be the dead man's son-in-law. Trave is not so sure. Why did the current deputy head of MI6, Alec Thorn, seek out his former boss? Thorn, for his part, hates his aide, Charles Seaforth, in part because the latter runs a double agent in Hitler's inner circle. And in Berlin? Hitler, who would prefer to invade the Soviet Union, tasks Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Gestapo and the SD (the SS's intelligence branch), with eliminating Churchill, the main man keeping England in the war. Their agent? A mole high up in MI6. -VERDICT Tolkien's fourth novel (after The King of Diamonds) is a well-told story with a few questionable features, among them the revelation of the assassin's identity at midpoint, which lessens the suspense. Still, historical thriller fans will enjoy the sleuthing into the potential assassin's motivations, the conflicts between characters, and the well-researched portrayal of war-torn London.-Ron Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Jack Higgins fans will enjoy Tolkien's exciting third suspense novel featuring Det. Insp. William Trave (after 2011's The King of Diamonds), a prequel set in the fall of 1940. As Adolf Hitler and Reinhard Heydrich, the head of the Gestapo, plot to use a mole in British intelligence to further the Reich's ambitions, Trave lands a murder case. Albert Morrison, the ousted head of MI6, has been killed, flung down a flight of stairs by someone Morrison's grown daughter, Ava, who witnessed the crime, could not identify. Trave's oafish superior, Det. Chief Insp. John Quaid, quickly settles on Ava's husband, Bertie, as the killer, since Bertie had a pecuniary motive for his father-in-law's death. Trave isn't so sure, a feeling that's only heightened as he tries to learn more about Morrison's work. Heartfelt evocations of the horrors of war, in particular the effects of the bombing raids on Londoners, show Tolkien has upped his game. Agent: Marly Rusoff, Marly Rusoff Literary. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.