“His masterpiece to date,” said the Guardian. An old woman hides dark secrets from her past, when she and her sister were intimates of Hitler & Goering. During the 1997 Election, as Tony Blair sweeps to power, art dealer Gottleisch and his evil assistant Ticky think she has hoarded her sister’s valuable paintings. They are determined to get them, whatever it takes. “Exceptional,” – Booklist. There are two main threads to the book: a modern crime story and the recollections of an 85-year-old woman with dark secrets in her past. Set during the British General Election of 1997 when Tony Blair swept to power, the story bounces back to the 1930s when another charismatic leader rose in Europe. That story is revealed through flashbacks to the life of a British Nazi sympathiser and her artist sister, both intimates of Hitler and Goering. In 1997, art dealer Gottleisch and his evil assistant Ticky think she has hoarded her sister’s valuable paintings, and they are determined to get hold of them. Gottfleisch is clever and gargantuan; Ticky is a physically repellent and pathetic paedophile. They pit themselves against the equally controversial Sidonie, now an 85-year-old recluse. Born into minor aristocracy, mingling with the art set, meeting dark luminaries such as Mosley, Hitler and Hermann Goering – how could she be anything other than a villain? One of the many surprises of this much-praised book is the way the characters confound the reader’s expectations. With its background sweep, from the Thirties to Blair’s triumphant election victory in the late Nineties, this was the author’s most-praised novel. “A mesmerizing mystery thriller that is also a chillingly compelling examination of evil. This is an exceptional book from one of the UK’s finest genre writers.” - Emily Melton, in a Booklist starred review.