Death in focus - Anne Perry

New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry brings us an exciting new thriller of espionage and murder set across Europe in the 1930s.
The world is on the brink of war and no one is to be trusted as young photographer Elena Standish becomes embroiled in a terrifying game of cat and mouse...

It is 1933 and Europe is a place of increasing fear and violence. Young British photographer Elena Standish is on assignment in Amalfi when she meets Ian Newton, a charming Englishman with whom she falls in love. But what does she really know about him?

Accompanying him on a train across Italy to Paris, she finds him critically stabbed and dying. He tells her he is a member of Britain's Secret Service, on his way to Berlin to warn MI6 so that they can foil a plot to assassinate one of Hitler's vilest henchmen and blame Britain for it, thus causing a devastating diplomatic crisis.
Elena promises to deliver the message. But she is too late, and finds herself fleeing for her life.

Meanwhile Lucas Standish, secret head of MI6 during the war, learns that his beloved granddaughter is being hunted in Berlin for murder.
With Elena on the run, and at least one traitor in the British Embassy, it is impossible to know who to trust...

Praise for Anne Perry's previous novels:

'A brilliant Victorian police procedural in which well-realized characters and settings are fascinating in themselves'
Booklist

'Engrossing... Perry has always excelled in courtroom scenes and arguments between barristers, and she outdoes herself in two dramatic trials'Washington Times Daily

'Perry balances plot and character neatly before providing a resolution that few will anticipate'Publishers Weekly

Anne Perry is a New York Times bestselling author noted for her memorable characters, historical accuracy and exploration of social and ethical issues. Her two series, one featuring Thomas Pitt and one featuring William Monk, have been published in multiple languages. Anne Perry has also published a successful series based around World War One and the Reavley family, and the recent standalone novel The Sheen on the Silk. Anne Perry was selected by The Times as one of the twentieth century's '100 Masters of Crime'.

Anne Perry's Victorian mysteries are marvels of plot construction... truly remarkable
New York Times

There is a freshness about [Perry's] writing which makes it truly exceptional and I was gripped until the final page. Death on Blackheath was one of the best books I've read this year and I cannot recommend it highly enough
Eurocrime

Elegantly constructed and nail-bitingly tense
Good Book Guide

The investigation concludes in a hold-your-breath trial... A brilliant Victorian police procedural in which well-realized characters and settings are fascinating in themselves
Booklist

Give her a good murder and a shameful social evil, and Anne Perry can write a Victorian mystery that would make Dickens' eyes pop out
New York Times Book Review

Engrossing... Perry has always excelled in courtroom scenes and arguments between barristers, and she outdoes herself in two dramatic trials ... The book gallops to a dramatic conclusion
Washington Times Daily

A truly unusual mystery... Perry balances plot and character neatly before providing a resolution that few will anticipate
Publishers Weekly

Redolent with Victorian atmosphere, from the hypocritical snobbishness to the rigid social conventions of the time
Tangled Web