A Lily of the Field (Inspector Troy) - Hardcover

Lawton, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1611856019 ISBN 13: 9781611856019

Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press, 2011

Synopsis

'Observe in what an original world we are now living: how many men can you find in Europe who have never killed; or whom somebody does not wish to kill?'

Vienna, 1934. Ten-year-old cello prodigy Meret Voytek becomes a pupil of concert pianist Viktor Rosen, a Jew in exile from Germany.

The Isle of Man, 1940. An interned Hungarian physicist is recruited for the Manhattan Project in Los Alomos, building the atom bomb for the Americans.

Auschwitz, 1944. Meret is imprisoned but is saved from certain death to play the cello in the camp orchestra. She is playing for her life.

London, 1948. Viktor Rosen wants to relinquish his Communist Party membership after thirty years. His comrade and friend reminds him that he committed for life...

These seemingly unconnected strands all collide forcefully with a brazen murder on a London Underground platform, revealing an intricate web of secrecy and deception.

The ensuing events have personal significance for Scotland Yard Detective Frederick Troy. He finds himself pursuing a case with deadly and far-reaching consequences that ultimately threaten the balance of power in Europe.

Moving seamlessly from Vienna and Auschwitz to the deserts of New Mexico and the rubble-strewn streets of London, A Lily of the Field is a fast-paced, thrilling addition for fans of the series and a captivating introduction for new readers of Lawton's work.

About this title

Review

`John Lawton finds himself in the same boat as the late Patrick O'Brian-a sublimely elegant historical novelist as addictive as crack but overlooked by too many readers for too long. Like O'Brian, he inhabits his periods - 20th-century tipping points witnessed by the rich and richly ambivalent sleuth Troy - with an ownership that leaves most history-bothering authors looking like day-trippers.' --Daily Telegraph

`Lawton writes with authority. His characters convince, and so does their world. Admirable, ambitious and haunting, this is the sort of thriller that defies categorisation. I look forward with enthusiasm to the next one.' --Spectator

`John Lawton's books contain such a wealth of period detail, character description and background information that they are lifted out of any category. Every word is enriched by the author's sophistication and irreverent intelligence, by his meticulous research and his wit.'
--Literary Review

From the Author

John Lawton is the director of over forty television programs, author of a dozen screenplays, several children's books and seven Inspector Troy novels. Named by the Daily Telegraph as one of 'Fifty Crime Writers to Read Before You Die' and selected by Time magazine as one of 'Six Detective Series to Savour,' Lawton's work has earned him comparisons to John le Carré and Alan Furst. Lawton lives in a remote hilltop village in Derbyshire.

About this edition

• Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1611856019
• ISBN 13: 9781611856019
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400