A Lily of the Field

Inspector Troy #7

by John Lawton

Vienna, 1934. Ten-year-old cello prodigy Méret 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. Méret 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.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Historical Mystery, Espionage

381 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5, 2010

About the author

John Lawton is a producer/director in television who has spent much of his time interpreting the USA to the English, and occasionally vice versa. He has worked with Gore Vidal, Neil Simon, Scott Turow, Noam Chomsky, Fay Weldon, Harold Pinter and Kathy Acker. He thinks he may well be the only TV director ever to be named in a Parliamentary Bill in the British House of Lords as an offender against taste and balance. He has also been denounced from the pulpit in Mississippi as a `Communist,’ but thinks that less remarkable.

He spent most of the 90s in New York – among other things attending the writers’ sessions at The Actors’ Studio under Norman Mailer – and has visited or worked in more than half the 50 states. Since 2000 he has lived in the high, wet hills ofDerbyshire England, with frequent excursions into the high, dry hills of Arizona and Italy.

He is the author of 1963, a social and political history of the Kennedy-Macmillan years, six thrillers in the Troy series and a stand-alone novel, Sweet Sunday.

In 1995 the first Troy novel, Black Out, won the WH Smith Fresh Talent Award. In 2006 Columbia Pictures bought the fourth Troy novel Riptide. In 2007 A Little White Death was a New York Times notable.

In 2008 he was one of only half a dozen living English writers to be named in the London Daily Telegraph‘s `50 Crime Writers to Read before You Die.’ He has also edited the poetry of DH Lawrence and the stories of Joseph Conrad. He is devoted to the work of Franz Schubert, Cormac McCarthy, Art Tatum and Barbara Gowdy. (source: http://www.johnlawtonbooks.com)

He was born in 1949 in England.

Reviews

[David Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lawton's novels are masterpieces of time and place, and they are irresistible to me. The Troy series is set in London at various times in the WWII era -- before, after, and during -- involving layers of culture and society, the business of murder detection, and international strands. Characters are vivid and captivating, from the local prostitute to the aristocracy. This novel begins in Vienna, moves to Poland (Auschwitz), Canada, New Mexico and London.

Musicians and physicists are at the center of the events in this book, and all of them are given complex moral dimensions, histories, and motives, grounded on historic events. The character of no one is a certainty, except for Troy, and his occasionally compromised, vividly sexual nature. The war, before the war, after the war -- these are times of fear, uncertainty, resentment, social politics, and slow recovery. Without the excavations in novels of this kind, details of feeling would disappear and generations would be misremembered.

This series has not been published in chronological order, but it is not difficult to piece the sequence together. (Second Violin, Bluffing Mr. Churchill, Black Out, A Lily of the Field, Old Flames, Flesh Wounds, A Little White Death) As a companion to this work, Any Human Heart by William Boyd (just seen in a British series) is not to be missed; I have a small but growing shelf of London war books assembled nearby as well. First among them is the Connie Willis pair. Of the seven Lawton books published, I have read six; he cannot write them fast enough for me, so I have to keep a few alternates on hand.

When reading about Britain in the Second World War, especially during the early years of the bombings, it is important to remember this: they did not know who would win, how it would work out, what would happen. Ambiguity and danger: places where the heartfelt moral life matters most.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did read the first book of this series and had trouble with it. I must admit I had some of the same complaints as I read this book. One is simply the length of the book wherein I mentally edit away many sections as I read, believing the book would be a better read. I was able to see the value in some of the many detours as I eventually warmed up to Inspector Troy. I will give some of the others a try. This book was priced nicely at $2.13
For future reference to jog my memory: Vienna 1930's, Cello player, Auschwitz, Churchill, Recruitment for atom bomb, a lot of characters to track, London 1940s

[Sam Reaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

A number of writers are doing interesting things with historical espionage fiction set against the background of the epic catastrophe that was the middle decades of the twentieth century. (Philip Kerr, Joseph Kanon, Alan Furst) John Lawton may be the best of these. He has written stand-alones as well as this series about a London detective inspector named Frederick Troy. The novels are literary, complex, and full of historical and cultural references. They are also pretty good yarns, with satisfying doses of tradecraft and eruptions of violence.
A Lily of the Field is the story of how a Viennese girl, a musical prodigy, sees her life destroyed by the Nazi Anschluss and miraculously survives Auschwitz (harrowingly depicted) to be recruited by Soviet intelligence. Deeply wounded, she winds up in London with her old teacher, a renowned pianist, who has his own secret life. Their story intersects with Troy's as he investigates the killing of a Polish exile on the Underground, revealing Soviet skulduggery in the effort to get the Bomb.
The novel hauntingly illustrates the tragedy of the collapse of European civilization that culminated in the Second World War and the Cold War. John Lawton is doing what good novelists do, illuminating history through compelling human stories.

[Tracyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like some other books in this series, A Lily of the Field covers a span of years. It starts in 1934, leading up to World War II, covers some events during World War II, and picks up again after the war is over. The first portion of the book is called "Audacity" and features Méret Voytek, a talented young cellist living in Vienna, who is not Jewish but ends up in Auschwitz; her teacher and friend, Viktor Rosen, who ends up interned in England on the Isle of Man; and Dr. Karel Szabo, a Hungarian physicist, who is involved in the development of the atomic bomb.

The second part of the book, "Austerity," is set in 1948 London, and brings in Frederick Troy and his brother Rod, who was also interned on the Isle of Man due to issues with his citizenship. [Coincidentally, London was the host city for the Olympics in 1948. That does not figure much in the story, but it is mentioned.]

This is a longish book, and seems almost like two books, although there are definite links between the two stories. The crime in this book is the murder of a Polish painter, shot on an Underground platform with a very unusual gun. It doesn't occur until towards the middle, in the second part. As in many of Lawton's books, the resolution of the crime is less important than the overall story and the picture of Britain during these years.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Lily of the Field consists of two distinct parts. The first part charts the various strands of Meret, Victor and Szabo from 1934 to 1948, putting in place the contextual back story. The second covers Troy’s investigation into the underground station murder. There’s a distinct contrast in styles between the two parts. The first is light, quick, short scenes that provide insight into key moments and give good, strong pen pictures of the characters. The writing is expressive and Lawton delivers an expansive story, covering a number of characters, places and times, in a relatively short amount of space. The material is also historically rich, detailing key events over a 14 year period without it seeming as if things were skipped over or them dominating the narrative. It is a really skilful and engaging piece of writing. Really top-draw stuff. The second half, the pace drops and the writing becomes a little more leaden, and characters from the first half all but disappear for extended passages. At times, it is seems to become more about Troy and his family than the story. It’s still very good, but it lacks the sparkle and dash of the first part. Even so, the plotting is excellent and there is a satisfying resolution to the story. Overall, a shame that the second half did not have the verve of the first, but nonetheless a well crafted and very enjoyable read that is a cut above normal fare.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meret is a young prodigy on the cello. She lives in Vienna, Austria which is invaded by the Nazis. Meret does not agree with them, nor does she resist. She tries to continue her life, but is thrown into Auschwitz. She survives because she is a cellist. But when she returns to "normalcy", she realizes that she has to restart.

Karol Szabo is a scientist who is recruited to "help" create the bomb in a location in New Mexico. After the project succeeds and the war is over, he also returns to Europe.

And then Detective Troy finds a dead body. Who is it? And how does it combine with our two story lines?

It turns out that this book is in a series of Detective Troy novels. I had never heard of it, but I am now fascinated. I loved this mystery. I thought that it kept my interest. I enjoyed the character building.

Lawton put some spins on things that I really enjoyed. For instance, Meret is a political prisoner and Karol is put in an internment camp and then "rescued" to work on the bomb. Those were some perspectives that I really enjoyed.

I followed along the mystery really well. There were enough clues that I didn't feel confused, but he kept enough shrouded in mystery that it wasn't too easy. The ending was great- not too happy and not to sad.

[Eric_W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished this. The early scenes with the young Méret as she studies with Vicktor are often lyrical, helped perhaps by the numerous allusions to classical music. If you love the classics you will enjoy those references. It's 1934 through the beginning of the war in Austria at the start. The Nazis have begun to show their true colors and some Jews who had already fled Germany were now trying to get to England. I love the way Lawton describes the English naïveté: "Think of them as children. Think of Europe as the drawing room and England as the kindergarten of Europe. They are innocents. They actually boast of not having been invaded since 1066. When in fact all that means is that they have lived outside the mainstream of Europe. They are innocents.. . .Good God, why London? Why not Paris or Amsterdam? What does London have to offer? The madman Thomas Beecham. Beecham waving his baton in the pouring rain for a nation of philistines in wet wool and false teeth!”

But I thought the book dragged once they all got to England and I just didn't find it as interesting nor comprehensible.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and convincing. I'll be starting with #1 in the series very soon.

[Rome Doherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the universe that author Lawton has with this series.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of the series. The characters, although in large part historical, are believable. There are twists and turns everywhere and even though Inspector Troy neither gets shot nor sex in this one, there is plenty of action.

[Nooilforpacifists · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best John Lawton "Inspector Troy" book I've read to date--perhaps because Troy's offstage for most of the first half. It's a gripping historical thriller, written in two converging segments.

With some spoilers, the first half focuses on a (non Jewish) young girl named Méret Voytek in Vienna beginning in the late 1920. She's a gifted Cellist, taking lessons and doing duets from THE Central European teacher of the day, Victor Rosen. Rosen is Jewish and flees (we know early on he survives, because of scenes in English internment camps, locked up with the best German and Eastern European Jewish physics brains). Voytek is incorporated into the main Nazi youth orchestra at Anschluss (when she's about 18 years old). She survives the Nazis and war by withdrawing into herself. Yet, in 1944 she quasi-randomly is sent to Auschwitz, where she winds up playing in the camp orchestra and for the Commandant. Back in England, the internees are released, many to work in Los Alamos. Because of her privileged position in the Auschwitz orchestra, Voytek, half starved, but cello intact, barely survives the camp.

The second half begins with the murder of a Polish emerge on the London Underground. It quickly seems like a job for MI5, especially after a band of Czech goons come calling. But the spooks don't want the case, so it's assigned to Sargent Troy, the Toff, whose Socialist MP brother was born in Vienna, and thus also was in the same internment camp. Troy doesn't think the deceased was Polish, and when the next dead body arrives, it both starts a breakdown among the internment group, including Troy's brother, and -- more importantly -- a major security leak that could humiliate the Brits in front of the Americans.

Plugging the leak is easy; surviving the Czechs is harder. But, who killed the Man in the Tube, and why?

[Trilby · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a few years since I've had the pleasure of reading a Lawton novel, and this one blew me away. After you've gone through a number of works by lesser talents, coming upon the work of a master is like experiencing a '69 Borollo after swilling cheap Merlot. Lawton is without peer in seamlessly combining the genres of historical fiction and the thriller.

The first part is largely from the point of view of a young Viennese cellist who winds up a prisoner in Auschwitz; the second part switches to Inspector Frederick Troy of Scotland Yard, the protagonist in many of Lawton's other novels. Almost all of the other mystery series I have read are in exact chronological order. It amazes me that in the Troy series, Lawton can jump around from decade to decade, completely scrambling the chronology, yet make the plots coherent and produce characters that are vivid, developed, and memorable. This novel takes place at the more recent end, and a number of characters, like Troy's brother Rod and boss Onions, are carried over from previous stories.

The scene moves from Vienna, to Auschwitz, to Los Alamos, to Paris, to London, yet the story is not hard to follow. Lawton well captures the horrors of the rise of the Nazis on the Continent, and the unspeakable horrors facing those herded into the camps. Yet he keeps an even tone, never resorting to caricature or sentimentality. The background research is impressive, from such diverse subjects as theater in 1930's Vienna to the development of the A-bomb to postwar London with its shortages and smog.

"A Lily of the Field" is another masterwork by the American master of the English detective/spy thriller. I can hardly wait for the next in the Troy series.

[Gram · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvellous mystery which begins in Vienna in 1934, a few years before "Anschluss" the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. An Austrian girl, Méret Voytek, becomes the pupil of an exiled Jew, Viktor Rosen. Forward to 1940 when an interned Hungarian physicist is recruited to help build the atom bomb for the Americans at Los Alamos. Meanwhile, Méret has been imprisoned in Auschwitz in 1944 where she plays the cello in the camp orchestra.
Then, in 1948 London, a man is murdered in broad daylight on the London Underground.
Enter Scotland Yard Murder Squad Detective Inspector Frederick Troy, who must solve the mystery of why this man died, as he becomes entangled in a case which reveals a plan to get atomic secrets to Soviet Russia by means of a highly unusual method.
Finally, Troy discovers the truth behind a classical music code, with the help of a man who was a code breaker at the still top secret Bletchley Park.
Somehow, the author John Lawton manages to write beautifully about such terrible things as the despair of the most infamous World War II death camp and the making of the first atom bombs.
Along the way we encounter characters from the previous Inspector Troy books and new faces who help or hinder his efforts. And scattered throughout are details of wide ranging topics from the austerity of post-war France and Britain to the beauty and complexity of classical music. A worthy addition to the Inspector Troy series.

[MisterLiberry Head · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covering the years 1934 to 1948, the novel follows the parallel stories of two main characters: Méret Voytek, a gifted young Viennese cellist, and Dr. Karel Szabo, an émigré Hungarian physicist. The story includes Rodyon Troy as a minor character, re-visiting and building upon some incidents from SECOND VIOLIN. Scotland Yard Murder Squad sleuth Frederick Troy doesn't dominate the narrative until the second half of the book, when he’s 33 years old--as always, tying everything together in a solution that satisfies his sense of justice, but isn't typical of ordinary police procedures. Still single and secretive, Troy is rightly accused of being “useless at socio-sexual preamble” (p252). As a shootist, Troy also has become somewhat like a Dirty Harry of Scotland Yard.

Voytek is a fascinating character, reminding me of “Nell Breakheart” in THEN WE TAKE BERLIN (2013), which I read before this one. Lawton does a fine job of conveying the detached, war-weary world views of the “Mitteleuropa” nationals. As physicist Szabo says: “Once I’m behind barbed wire … it’s just another camp” (p109). In fact, to many of these broken characters--tangled in a web of “spookery”-- the whole post-war world is a camp.

[Corny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book for the first 150 pages as it follows the lives of several different people through World War II. The rest of the story takes place mostly in London and simply runs out of gas. Obviously a lot of research has been done in order to makes this period piece authentic and for that reason I finished it. However, the plot resolution completely lacks credibility and the characters are wooden and equally unbelievable. Without spoiling the plot, I can say with certainty that the ending held little in the way of surprises. Also, the last 150 pages are badly overwritten, bogging down the story with encounters that seem totally superfluous. Unless you are a Lawton fan , and I gather that he has written several of these books with the same hero, or a lover of postwar novels simply for the ambiance, I would give this a pass.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not realise until well into this book that it was part of a series, but the main character of Inspector Troy was not someone who I found intriguing enough to read another entry.

The beginning of the book was interesting, and or the first half I was engrossed. However, after that midway point the story fizzled out for me and I lost interest.

[Doris M · Rating 5 out of 5]

In A LILY OF THE FIELD, we meet several individuals who became spies under differing situations and how they dealt with their covert activities during and after World War II. Méret Voytek, a Viennese cellist, is coerced by NKVD Major Larissa Tosca (a familiar pop-up here) to become a spy after she is rescued from the aftermath of Auschwitz. Karel Szabo, a Hungarian physicist, active at Los Alamos became involved in transferring secret information to the Russians. He doesn't believe he is a spy, but rather a traitor to England for sharing information to achieve a balance of power, instead of allowing the US to own such a deadly weapon. The last member of this trio is Viktor Rosen, renowned concert pianist, a 30 year Communist party member who revealed to Skolnik, a fellow comrade, that he wants to quit- his friend warns him that it is not an option; a party member is for life.
The incident which brings Troy on the scene is the murder of Skolnik in a crowded train station, shot with a Fabergé gun. Troy finds that his life is at risk as he unravels the relationships of the trio and the flawless efficiency in which they gave sensitive information to the Russians. A rare glimpse into the literate and music loving Troy indicates that for him the act of killing is not a real event, so that he doesn't have to deal with it in a rational sense.
Méret often appears in other volumes in a minor role, but in this one she plays a major part. At the end, her desire is to be free from worry like "a lily of the field" - no longer concerned about her future, because she will do "what Russia will want me to do." The ending is perfect served up with a dash of humor. I have read most of the Troy and Wilderness books with the exception of three Troys - I tackle these weighty gems at a leisurely pace; for me this is the best of the lot so far.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading about these characters for 7 books, I find myself excited about each new scenario that involves someone that has appeared before. This time, Victor Rosen, who has made other appearances in previous books, has reappeared along with a new character, Merritt, the brilliant cello player.

The entire first part of the book deals with her childhood in Vienna and her relationship with Victor. Then, she finds herself in Vienna and is sent to Auschwitz, as a political prisoner and a victim of circumstance.

Troy does not appear in this book until the second half. Troy manages to discover the use of music as a form of code to disseminate information to the Soviet Union. There is much to learn about the motivations of those that spied for other governments after WWII. The reasons were many — politics and fear just a few.

I love the way John Lawton works in chance encounters with previous characters. I was waiting for Merritt to tell Troy about meeting Tosca, but it never came up I. The conversation.

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

De titel en de cover van het boek triggerden me om het mee te nemen uit de bibliotheek. Eenmaal thuis had ik door dat het boek onderdeel is van de serie over inspecteur Troy bij Scotland Yard. Het boek is zelfstandig goed te lezen, gaandeweg wordt het verhaal rondom inspecteur Troy iets scherper, iets wat ongetwijfeld duidelijker zou zijn geweest als ik de serie vanaf het begin zou hebben gelezen. Het verhaal zelf vind ik mooi; de setting van getalenteerd celliste, de Tweede Wereldoorlog, Auschwitz, en het leven na bevrijd te zijn. En de dreiging van de koude oorlog. De schrijver heeft met zijn verhaal me aangenaam verrast. Dat ik in het midden van het verhaal iets wat indutte, dat kwam door hele verhandelingen over inspecteur Troy, maar het begin en het eind is ijzersterk. Zo goed dat ik me over dat middengedeelte kan zetten. Ik ben zo benieuwd naar de eerdere en latere delen van de serie. Ik ga maar eens kijken of de bibliotheek ook deel één heeft. Dat lijkt me een goede start.

[Sam Romilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seems as if two or even three novels were joined together. Far too much plot to be successfully managed but at least the author does not even try and the book is kept short and is very easy to read. There is a big difference between historical fiction and the crime/spy genre. Historical fiction is not name dropping people and objects known to the present day reader into the past. Historical fiction if done well can transport the reader back in time. If done badly you have a series of cliches and unconvincing scenarios. For example the characters in this book meet Quentin Crisp and Guy Burgess for no reason connected to the plot and it just comes across as lazy and unimaginative. The first part of the book set in Vienna is the best and if that had just been developed more and the rest left out a there would have been a much more interesting result.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two stories are unfolding and weaving into each other–that of cellist Meret Voytek and that of Karel Szabo, a Hungarian physicist, with cameos by Viktor Rosen, a world-famous pianist. While the stories are chock full of WWII and personal drama, this is not until page 155, out of 375, that Inspector Frederick Troy, the protagonist, makes his full appearance (was seen at a dinner party before) and the book's plot begins to unfold. I found this mildly irritating because it felt like a 155-page preamble.

However, I do enjoy Mr. Lawton's writing and Inspector Troy, so I will read any he types out.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A LILY OF THE FIELD – John Lawton

The prologue is set in a park in London, either in February or March, 1948. Two men meet to discuss the future of one. “It had not been the hardest winter….War. Winter. He had thought he might not live through either. He had….This winter would not kill him. The last would. And all the others that had preceded it.” Viktor Rosen had come to tell Andre Skolnik, someone he had known for much of his life, that he had to stop. It is an audacious statement. Andre Skolnik responds, bringing Viktor back to their real world, “You cannot just stop. You cannot simply quit. What was it you think you joined all those years ago?….the Communist Party of the Soviet Union simply does not work that way.”

The first section of the book is termed “Audacity”. It is February, 1934 and in Vienna those who have been paying attention are preparing for the change that is inevitable. Hitler has taken over Germany and it is only a matter of time before he claims Austria, especially Vienna, as part of his Thousand-Year Reich. Some German Jews have come to Vienna thinking there would be safety and for a few years, it seemed this would be so. Viktor Rosen is one of the most famous pianists in Europe. Imre Voytek arranges for Rosen to give his ten-year old daughter, Meret, music lessons. Meret is a prodigy, a cellist whose second instrument is the piano. Viktor is a pianist whose second instrument is the cello. The music lessons will impact their lives.

Three years later, Viktor flees to England before the Germans march into Austria. Meret’s life has centered around her lessons with Viktor but very soon after the Anschluss, she realizes just how prescient Viktor was. The youth orchestra becomes part of the Hitler Youth and Meret willingly goes along with the rules until, one day, a chance encounter with a boy from the orchestra pulls her into the Nazi machine. Meret is transported to Auschwitz where her talent saves her life. She becomes the cellist for the Ladies’ Orchestra of Auschwitz. When the Russians advance on the camp at the end of the war, Meret is protected because even the Russians know who she is.

The second section of the book is “Austerity”. Meret is re-united with Viktor in England after she has spent time in Paris. Her talent and Viktor’s combine to bring them the same adulation they had received in Vienna. But, although the victors in the war, England is a difficult place to live. Everything is still rationed and life is not easy but Meret and Viktor are established as part of that class of people those talents set them apart from, and above, their new countrymen.

It is in England that Freddie and Rod Troy come into the book. Freddie is called to investigate the murder of a painter, Andre Skolnik. There are no clues, no witnesses so Freddie asks his brother, Rod, if anyone in the ex-pat community knows who he is. When Skolnik is identified, the Troy brothers find their lives becoming more complicated.

The lives of Viktor and Meret run on a parallel path with that of Karel Szabo, an Hungarian physicist, who was interred on the Isle of Man with Rod Troy. Szabo is taken to Canada and then to the United States to work on the Manhattan Project. At the end of the war, he, too, comes to London with a head full of secrets that both sides in the new Cold War want desperately.

As with SECOND VIOLIN, A LILY OF THE FIELD has a chronology that makes it easy to follow the many characters as they move from pre-Nazi Vienna to post-war London. Quentin Crisp is a real person who plays a role in the book that is very close to his real life in England after the war.

Meret and Viktor are the principal characters with Inspector Troy as a close third. The title of the book is spoken by Meret, at the end of the book when she says she will be “…a lily of the field, a beautiful but useless adornment….” The term is first introduced on the page before Chapter One: ” I wouild love to be like the lilies of the field. someone who managed to read this age correctly would surely have learned just this: to be like a lily in the field.” ETTY HILLESUM, diary entry September 22, 1943. She died at Auschwitz, November 30, 1943. Meret saves herself by being a beautiful adornment, not a beautiful human being.

The cover of the book is striking. It is primarily a sepia photograph of a street in Vienna in the late 1930′s. The “O” in the title encircles a swastika. Among the people on the street is a young blond girl carrying a cello case. She is wearing a red coat. She is the only bit of color superimposed on the photograph. She is a lily of the field, her cello case a statement about her ability to adorn the world.

She is also a reminder of the child in “Schindler’s List”. Spielberg shot the movie in black and white. The only color is a little girl in a bright red coat, walking alone. Schindler sees her from a distance, the only sign of joy in a world that is black and white. Later, in one of the camps, he sees her again, joy destroyed. The cover of the book is such a visceral reminder of the movie that it seems that a comparison is intended. Beauty and joy are not always cherished.

If anyone has not yet read any of the books in the Inspector Troy series, please start with SECOND VIOLIN, then BLUFFING MR CHURCHILL, BLACK OUT, A LILY OF THE FIELD, OLD FLAMES, FLESH WOUNDS, and, finally, A LITTLE WHITE DEATH. I recently read SECOND VIOLIN so I am going to start re-reading the series with BLUFFING MR CHURCHILL.

[Ann Tonks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Inspector Troy novel I've read and perhaps I should have read the others first. But I suspect that's not really my problem. I just don't believe Inspector Troy as a character. He doesn't make any sense as a person with an immigrant European history in England - let alone a really rich one. And I also don't believe in the psychology of one of the pivotal points in the book. And unlike some writers of historical fiction, I felt lectured to. Putting all those quibbles to one side, I did keep reading it to the end just to see how all the multiple threads could be tied together.

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The music described and referenced in this book was its saving grace to me, as well as the characterization of the main protagonists in this particular book (much more so than those that were clearly reoccurring in this series). The first part, where you get to know the characters that will then play a role in the mystery of the second part, could practically be it's own novel, and really I preferred that to the mystery, which seemed largely solved "offscreen." As a mystery book, I didn't really like this book, but as a story about the cello and piano and those who played - that I did like.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engrossing thriller involving Inspector Troy in which cellist prodigy Meret Voytek and her tutor, Viktor Rosen, face the onset of Nazism in Vienna and then Voytek experiences its full horror in Auschwitz. Various strands, including Los Alamos, come together in Cold-War austerity-affected London where Troy initially investigates the murder of a long-term Austrian refugee. Some irritating appearances by real figures does detract but it is the description of the times, particularly 1948 and Auschwitz, which really appeals

[Gail Barrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read a number of books in Lawton's series about Troy, the Scotland Yard detective, during and after WWII, but it's been a long time. I found the going a bit tough. was a couple of hundred pages into the book before Troy even showed up, though the story was about him and a complex spy ring spanning from Auschwitz to New Mexico. State secrets passed in unusual ways, brilliant musicians, Troy's rich Russian-turned-British family, irritating MP brother, and a lot of class references that went over my head. In retrospect it was good but I won't rush to read another.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story set in WW2 Europe and post war rise of the Cold War.
Lawton displays an immense knowledge of the times and intrigues of war torn Europe and the terrors that overtook the innocent, and overflowed into new terrors of the post war politics of Democracy and Communism.
This is not a book to read when half asleep. The characters and events develop too quickly for a gentle quiet read.

[virginia j denney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two plus two is the square root of sixteen


Spoiler Alert:
Inspector Troy does not play a big part in the story, which some may find disappointing, as I did at first. The plot tracks the life of a Vienna girl, from the age of ten, in 1934 through 1948. She is a cellist, a falsely accused political prisoner in Auschwitz, and one of several Russian spies in England. We meet Tosca again.

This is a good story. Troy and Rod meet her in 1946 in London.

[Sheldon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the Inspector Troy series. I wish he would have wild sex with Anna already, but other than that, Lawton draws me into his characters and makes me want to follow their escapades. You have to enjoy Cold War Mysteries to find this series to your liking. I usually do not like period thrillers, but for some reason this British hero works for me. You might like him and his mateys too.

[Lysergius · Rating 5 out of 5]

As close to the perfect distraction as I have ever found. Well researched, well written, solid characterisation and believable locations. The plot advances like a well-oiled machine, never faltering and the musical references, and the references in general test the scope of one' general and historical learning. Put this on the shelf with the Philip Kerrs, and look for more.