Name: Black Out
Rating: 3.78 (3982 reviews)
Author: John Lawton

Mr. Churchill’s Secretary

★ 3.75

Susan Elia MacNeal

For fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Laurie R. King, and Anne Perry, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary captures the drama of an era of unprecedented challenge—and the greatness that rose to meet it.

London, 1940. Winston Churchill has just been sworn in, war rages across the Channel, and the threat of a Blitz looms larger by the day. But none of this deters Maggie Hope. She graduated at the top of her college class and possesses all the skills of the finest minds in British intelligence, but her gender qualifies her only to be the newest typist at No. 10 Downing Street. Her indefatigable spirit and remarkable gifts for codebreaking, though, rival those of even the highest men in government, and Maggie finds that working for the prime minister affords her a level of clearance she could never have imagined—and opportunities she will not let pass. In troubled, deadly times, with air-raid sirens sending multitudes underground, access to the War Rooms also exposes Maggie to the machinations of a menacing faction determined to do whatever it takes to change the course of history.

Ensnared in a web of spies, murder, and intrigue, Maggie must work quickly to balance her duty to King and Country with her chances for survival. And when she unravels a mystery that points toward her own family’s hidden secrets, she’ll discover that her quick wits are all that stand between an assassin’s murderous plan and Churchill himself.

In this daring debut, Susan Elia MacNeal blends meticulous research on the era, psychological insight into Winston Churchill, and the creation of a riveting main character, Maggie Hope, into a spectacularly crafted novel.

The Man From Berlin

★ 3.98

Luke McCallin

Yugoslavia, a German officer has been shot and killed. Along with him a young, beautiful filmmaker and photographer—a veritable hero to her people—has been brutally murdered.

Assigned to the case is military intelligence officer Captain Gregor Reinhardt. Already haunted by his actions in war and the mistakes he’s made off the battlefield, he soon finds that his investigation may be more than just a murder.

Maneuvering his way through a minefield of political, military, and personal agendas and vendettas, Reinhardt knows that someone is leaving a trail of dead bodies to cover their tracks. But those bloody tracks may lead him to a secret hidden within the ranks of the powerful that may destroy the very country Reinhardt has sacrificed so much to protect…

But it will certainly destroy him first.

Strangers in Time

★ 4.17

David Baldacci

'A beautiful read that will linger long in the memory' – Kate Quinn
During one of the fiercest conflicts the world has ever known, three strangers’ lives collide as they confront the raining bombs of their present and the explosive secrets of their past. Journey back to wartime London in this historical drama from the number one bestseller.

Charlie Matters’ life has always been a fight for survival. Orphaned with no prospects, Charlie steals what he needs, living day-to-day until he can enlist in the battle against the Germans. He miraculously emerges unscathed from the Blitz, but there’s no telling when the next bomb will fall, and whether it will be the one to end his life.

Molly Wakefield’s dreams of a joyful homecoming are all she’s had to hold on to after being evacuated to the countryside via ‘Operation Pied Piper’ five years before. But when she finally returns to the city, Molly faces a London changed beyond recognition, and the devastating news that neither of her parents are there, only her old nanny, Mrs. Pride.

Charlie and Molly’s paths converge when they both seek solace at ‘The Book Keep’, where they find an unexpected ally and protector in the bookshop’s owner, widower Ignatius Oliver. But the trio’s newfound peace is jeopardized as past secrets catch up with Charlie’s illicit activities have not gone unnoticed, an ominous shadow has trailed Molly since her return, and Ignatius is burdened by a secret that contributed to his wife’s death. Can they help one another survive this turbulent time? Or will they be ripped apart from the last people they hold dear?

Strangers in Time is a gripping tale of courage and survival even in the darkest of times, from the multimillion copy number one bestselling author.

**********

KILLER TWISTS. HEROES TO BELIEVE IN. TRUST BALDACCI.

'A masterpiece of a historical thriller' – Lisa Scottoline

'A riveting story' – Mitch Albom

'A visceral reminder that war creates the most indefatigable bonds between unlikely souls' – Jodi Picoult

'A celebration of the books that change us and the families we choose' – Kristen Harmel

'A book that will stay with you' – Ann Cleeves

'Captivating, tender, brutal and brilliant' – Peter James

'A phenomenal read' – Shana Abé

'Atmospheric and warm-hearted' – Natasha Lester

'Baldacci is the master' – Jeffrey Archer

'Baldacci is still peerless' – Sunday Times

'One of the world's best thriller masters' – Daily Mail

'Baldacci inhabits the skin of his creations' - Sunday Express

Dissolution

★ 4.06

C.J. Sansom

Henry VIII has ordered the dissolution of the monasteries and England is full of informers. At the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control with the murder of Commissioner Robin Singleton. Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer, and his assistant are sent to investigate.

The Face of a Stranger

★ 4.03

Anne Perry

"Richly textured with the sights and sounds of London and its countryside...Solidly absorbing and Perry's best to date."
THE KIRKUS REVIEWS
His name, they tell him, is William Monk, and he is a London police detecive. But the accident that felled him has left him with only half a life; his memory and his entire past have vanished. As he tries to hide the truth, Monk returns to work and is assigned to investigate the brutal murder of a Crimean War hero and man about town. Which makes Monk's efforts doubly difficult, since he's forgotten his professional skills along with everything else....
A Dual Main Selection of the Mystery Guild

Blind Justice

★ 4.03

Bruce Alexander

Now in trade paperback, the very first John Fielding historical mystery.

Falsely charged of theft in 1768 London, thirteen-year-old orphaned printer's apprentice Jeremy Proctor finds his only hope in the legendary Sir John Fielding. Fielding, founder of the Bow Street Runners police force, then recruits young Jeremy in his mission to fight London's most wicked crimes.

The Good German

★ 3.81

Joseph Kanon

With World War II finally ending, Jake Geismar, former Berlin correspondent for CBS, has wangled one of the coveted press slots for the Potsdam Conference. His assignment: a series of articles on the Allied occupation. His personal agenda: to find Lena, the German mistress he left behind at the outbreak of the war.

When Jake stumbles on a murder -- an American soldier washes up on the conference grounds -- he thinks he has found the key that will unlock his Berlin story. What Jake finds instead is a larger story of corruption and intrigue reaching deep into the heart of the occupation. Berlin in July 1945 is like nowhere else -- a tragedy, and a feverish party after the end of the world.

As Jake searches the ruins for Lena, he discovers that years of war have led to unimaginable displacement and degradation. As he hunts for the soldier's killer, he learns that Berlin has become a city of secrets, a lunar landscape that seethes with social and political tension. When the two searches become entangled, Jake comes to understand that the American Military Government is already fighting a new enemy in the east, busily identifying the "good Germans" who can help win the next war. And hanging over everything is the larger crime, a crime so huge that it seems -- the worst irony -- beyond punishment.

At once a murder mystery, a moving love story, and a riveting portrait of a unique time and place, The Good German is a historical thriller of the first rank.

In the Shadow of Gotham

★ 3.51

Stefanie Pintoff

Dobson, New York, 1905.

Detective Simon Ziele lost his fiancée in the General Slocum ferry disaster—a thousand perished on that summer day in 1904 when an onboard fire burned the boat down in the waters of the East River. Still reeling from the tragedy, Ziele transferred to a police department north of New York, to escape the city and all the memories it conjured.

But only a few months into his new life in a quiet country town, he’s faced with the most shocking homicide of his career to date: Young Sarah Wingate has been brutally murdered in her own bedroom in the middle of an otherwise calm and quiet winter afternoon. After just one day of investigation, Simon’s contacted by Columbia University’s noted criminologist Alistair Sinclair, who offers a startling claim about one of his patients, Michael Fromley—that the facts of the murder bear an uncanny resemblance to Fromley’s deranged mutterings.

But what would have led Fromley, with his history of violent behavior and brutal fantasies, to seek out Sarah, a notable mathematics student and a proper young lady who has little in common with his previous targets? Is Fromley really a murderer, or is someone mimicking him?

This is what Simon Ziele must find out, with the help of the brilliant but self-interested Alistair Sinclair—before the killer strikes again.

With this taut, atmospheric, and original story of a haunted man who must search for a killer while on the run from his own demons, Stefanie Pintoff’s In the Shadow of Gotham marks the debut of an outstanding new talent, the inaugural winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America Best First Crime Novel Competition.

Black Out

Books similar to Black Out