August 1945, Germany
The Allies have won the war. Now they have to win the peace…
Post-war Germany is a disaster of epic proportions.
Between trying to rebuild a country from the ground up and capturing Nazi war criminals, British-occupied territory is under more strain than its officers care to admit – theft, assault, and illegal bribes that place daily.
But with the war over, death has begun to mean something again.
Detective Inspector Silas Payne is a Scotland Yard officer seconded to Germany to help implement the Allied policy of denazification by forming a training centre for German policemen.
When a former Waffen-SS soldier and an unidentified woman are found murdered in the cellar of a requisitioned house, Payne launches an investigation that rapidly puts him on the wrong side of the local military commander, who is determined to believe the murders are nothing more than random acts of violence.
Convinced something more sinister lies behind the deaths, and unafraid of ruffling a few feathers, Payne follows his instincts and unearths not only the murderer’s terrible history of killing, but also the everyday horrors of Germany under Nazi rule.
His investigation leads him down a torturous path through the chaos of post-war Germany and pits him against a depraved killer who will stop at nothing to protect his secret.
‘A well-paced whodunnit set against a vividly drawn Andalusian backdrop’ – James Smart, The Guardian
‘Piercingly accurate’ – Peter Thornton, The Sun
‘What Matthew Pritchard has done is almost impossible. He has written a novel of epic proportions’ - Michael Wood, Crime Squad
Matthew Pritchard was born and raised in Hampshire, England. He worked as a journalist in Spain for ten years, writing mainly for the ex-pat press and UK nationals. Together with his father and uncle, he has amassed a sizeable collection of WW2 memoirs and memorabilia contemporary to the period. Writing crime fiction allows him to explore society and human interaction that interest him in a recognisable world.
The Allies have won the war. Now they have to win the peace…
Post-war Germany is a disaster of epic proportions.
Between trying to rebuild a country from the ground up and capturing Nazi war criminals, British-occupied territory is under more strain than its officers care to admit – theft, assault, and illegal bribes that place daily.
But with the war over, death has begun to mean something again.
Detective Inspector Silas Payne is a Scotland Yard officer seconded to Germany to help implement the Allied policy of denazification by forming a training centre for German policemen.
When a former Waffen-SS soldier and an unidentified woman are found murdered in the cellar of a requisitioned house, Payne launches an investigation that rapidly puts him on the wrong side of the local military commander, who is determined to believe the murders are nothing more than random acts of violence.
Convinced something more sinister lies behind the deaths, and unafraid of ruffling a few feathers, Payne follows his instincts and unearths not only the murderer’s terrible history of killing, but also the everyday horrors of Germany under Nazi rule.
His investigation leads him down a torturous path through the chaos of post-war Germany and pits him against a depraved killer who will stop at nothing to protect his secret.
Praise for Matthew Pritchard:
‘A well-paced whodunnit set against a vividly drawn Andalusian backdrop’ – James Smart, The Guardian
‘Piercingly accurate’ – Peter Thornton, The Sun
‘What Matthew Pritchard has done is almost impossible. He has written a novel of epic proportions’ - Michael Wood, Crime Squad
Matthew Pritchard was born and raised in Hampshire, England. He worked as a journalist in Spain for ten years, writing mainly for the ex-pat press and UK nationals. Together with his father and uncle, he has amassed a sizeable collection of WW2 memoirs and memorabilia contemporary to the period. Writing crime fiction allows him to explore society and human interaction that interest him in a recognisable world.
