In a city on the brink of ruin, a single spark could ignite a continent. Vienna, 1931. When a wealthy American is found dead in a burning car in the Vienna Woods, police quickly dismiss it as suicide. But ambitious foreign correspondent Esme Carmichael is tipped off that it was murder. She summons historian Archie Laverick to the Austrian capital, where - still scarred by the Great War and under the guise of researching a famed general - he plunges with Esme into a perilous hunt for the truth. Their investigation cuts through the glittering fa?ades of a fragile nation. As the catastrophic failure of Austria's largest bank threatens to throw Europe into chaos, Archie and Esme must untangle a web of illicit affairs and stolen identities, navigating the treacherous, gossip-fuelled world of Vienna's elite journalists to unmask a cunning killer hiding in plain sight. A tense, atmospheric mystery set in a world between wars ? perfect for fans of Philip Kerr?s Berlin Trilogy, Robert Harris?s Fatherland, and Alan Furst's spy novels.
Michael Ridpath spent eight years as a bond trader at an international bank in the City of London. He is the author of six other novels. He grew up in Yorkshire and now lives in north London with his ... more
