Dear friends. I've got a treat for you today, the first in a new WWII historical thriller series.
No Precious Truth introduces us to one of the very first woman police sergeants, Cathy Marsden. She becomes pivotal in the desperate search to find a spy who's believed to be at large in Leeds.
Today is my day on the blog tour for this enthralling book by Chris Nickson.
Publisher's Description
Leeds, 1941. As the war rages across Europe, Police Sergeant Cathy Marsden’s life since she was seconded to the Special Investigation Branch has remained focused on deserters and home-front crimes. Until now.
Things take a chilling turn when Cathy’s civil servant brother, Dan arrives from London with a dark secret: he is working for the XX Committee – a special MI5 unit set up to turn German spies into double agents. But one of these agents has escaped and is heading for Leeds, sent to destroy targets key to the war effort.
Suddenly Cathy and the squad are plunged into an unfamiliar world of espionage and subterfuge.
With the fate of the country and the war in the balance, failure is not an option, and Cathy must risk everything, including her own life, to stop a spy.
My Thoughts
I loved the way that real life historical detail is used in this well researched and evocative book. The Special Investigation Branch, the XX Committee, and the Avro "shadow factory" were all very real. The latter was disguised to look like the landscape when seen from the air. Fake animals were literally moved by hand each day, to fool the German bombers.
There were very few women police in Leeds at this time, even in a force that would include special constables and men brought out of retirement.
In our first introduction to Sgt Cathy Marsden, she immediately impresses. She's been given a tip-off by a woman about the whereabouts of a criminal. But as she and her colleagues get ready to arrest the suspect, she spots a familiar face entering the room. It's her brother. He's now in the Security Service, in a different city.
There's a fascinating dynamic between the siblings. Daniel is immediately dismissive of her position and Cathy bristles.
Daniel has been sent to brief SIB on intelligence about a spy believed to be heading to Leeds. It's a real needle in a haystack search as they have barely no intelligence on who he is, where he's likely to be, and his mission.
Cathy has worked hard to win the respect of her squad and plays a key role in the search.
The cat and mouse pursuit is very gripping. The relationships are very well drawn. We cheer for Cathy when she scores successes, in the face of hostility from one or two senior colleagues. She is fighting more than a war: she's also fighting misogyny.
She's also a relatable heroine, trying to snag nylons from the Americans, if we can mix our metaphors, and concerned about more things "going on the ration".
I look forward to reading more of her exploits.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Nickson is the author of eleven Tom Harper mysteries, seven highly acclaimed novels in the Richard Nottingham series, and five Simon Westow books. Born and raised in Leeds, he moved back there some years ago.
Thanks to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours, the author and the publisher for an advance digital copy in return for an honest review.
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