A crime fiction reviewer for London's Guardian, Laura Wilson knows a thing or two about hard-hitting historical thrillers. Despite the carnage of World War II, British Detective Ted Stratton finds that criminals never take a holiday, and in this series, his skills will be tested to the limit.

In 1950s London, MI5 operative Diana Calthrop is looking a little tarnished, her famously catastrophic taste in men catching up at last. On the plus side, she has once again bumped into Inspector Ted Stratton. Could he be her rescuer? First he'd have to rescue himself, and that's a long shot: With his wife dead and his children distant, Stratton's nursing his own depression like an old war wound. And while London never lacks for crime, there's one crime in particular that Stratton just can't shake.