Book picks similar to
The German Messenger by David Malcolm


historical-fiction
thriller
contemporary-fiction
hist-fic-reading-challenge

Villa Normandie


Kevin Doherty
    The Normandy coastal village of Caillons is under German occupation, its villagers struggling to survive. With her husband forced into compulsory service for the German Reich, Jeanne Dupré, mother of two adolescent daughters, risks everything to lead the local Resistance cell.Life becomes even more dangerous with the arrival of British agent Daniel Benedict. He needs Jeanne's help to complete his mission, vital to Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings. But Jeanne is suspicious that they are not fighting for the same outcome. Their joint foe is Jürgen Graf, a Nazi oberleutnant set on wiping out the local Resistance. Aware that a spy is at large, Graf is on a ruthless mission to hunt Benedict down. With the help of a network of Catholic priests, Benedict penetrates the heart of the Nazis’ defences against Allied invasion, the Atlantic Wall. As the lives of Jeanne and Benedict become increasingly intertwined can they stay true to themselves? Will they have to sacrifice all in their fight for freedom..? ‘Villa Normandie’ is a moving historical novel, presenting an accurate picture of life under Nazi occupation. It is thoroughly detailed, meticulously researched and vividly authentic - depicting the turbulent world of the French resistance and the struggle of the French people for freedom.

The Zima Confession


Iain M. Rodgers - 2019
    Party activists develop the plan - code name Zima and lie in wait...London 2013 - Richard is in London, working for a financial software company. He has held onto the Zima plan all this time and has been signalling he can activate it. Is anyone listening? Have others stayed true to the ideology?The "suicide" of Richard's work colleague shows British and Russian Intelligence have been listening and waiting too. Tension mounts as more players reveal themselves and the battle for power and control moves to Moscow. As the coil of agents, misinformation and mind control experiments connected to Zima unravel - where do allegiances lie? Can Richard trust anyone - even himself?Can MI9 stop a catastrophic act of sabotage on the banking system? Will the revolution succeed? Can Richard uncover the TRUTH and save himself?

Entangled Threads (A Victorian San Francisco Mystery Book 8)


M. Louisa Locke - 2022
    

A Troublesome Woman (The Inspector Lazarus Mysteries Book 1)


Suzanne Downes - 2014
    Allingham's daughter Arabella has run away with a debauched fortune-hunter and Allingham wants her back before a scandal ruins her reputation. Lazarus is not inclined to help, but has no choice when he realizes that Arabella's life could be in danger. When a series of poisonings distract him from Arabella's abduction, Allingham uses his attractive niece Constance to bring Lazarus back to the matter in hand. The inspector would like to dispense with Constance's help as she is a member of the despised Allingham family, but he needs her aid in interviewing the tight-knit gentry, who use their influence with the upper echelons of the police force to protect their own. As more young women fall victim to the killer, Lazarus begins to rely more and more on Constance and slowly overcomes his initial prejudice.

The Canterbury Tales By Night Omnibus


Paul Doherty - 2012
    Includes An Ancient Evil, A Tapestry of Murders and A Tournament of Murders. Perfect for fans of Ellis Peters and Susanna Gregory.An Ancient Evil: As the travellers gather at the start of a pilgrimage to Canterbury, they agree to amuse themselves on their journey with evening tales of mystery, terror and murder. So begins the Knight's tale. It opens with the destruction of a sinister cult during the reign of William the Conqueror, and then moves to Oxford some two hundred years later where terrible murders are being committed. The Abbess of the Convent of St Anne's, believes the murders are connected with the legends of the cult and petitions the King for help... A Tapestry of Murders: As Chaucer's pilgrims continue towards Canterbury, they choose the Man of Law to narrate the next tale of fear and sinister dealings. In August 1358, the adulterous Dowager Queen Isabella, the 'She Wolf of France', lies dying of the pestilence in the sombre fortress of Castle Rising, where her 'loving' son has kept her incarcerated. But as in life so in death Isabella causes intrigue, violence and murder. Nicholas Chirke, an honest young lawyer, is brought in to investigate strange events following her death - and quickly finds himself at his wits' end trying to resolve the mysteries before a great scandal unfolds. A Tournament of Murders: While Chaucer's pilgrims settle for the night, the Franklin narrates a mysterious, bloody tale... In 1356 the Black Prince has won his resounding victory at Poitiers. As impoverished knight Gilbert Savage lies dying in the wake of the fight he tells his squire, Richard Greenele, that the story of his parents perishing during the plague is untrue. Richard, if he wishes to uncover what really happened, must travel to Colchester and seek out a sealed letter telling the truth of his parentage, and a most macabre confession that will set him on a mission for revenge from which there is no turning back...

A Death of Innocence


David Penny - 2020
    Together they uncover a web of deceit and lies to reveal the sad truth behind the murder.Meanwhile, another kind of death has come to Lemster—one that cannot be solved by reason alone.A Death of Innocence is the first of three prequels relating the story of how Thomas Berrington leaves England to begin his travels to Moorish al-Andalus.

Hour of the Assassins: A Novel


Andrew Kaplan - 1987
    His atrocities were unspeakable, and among his victims were the wife and child of a man named Wasserman, who was forced to watch them die. Mengele survived the war, disappearing into hiding in South America, and Wasserman ran too—fleeing to America to make a fortune in pornography. Now he is dying of cancer, but before he goes, he wants to see Mengele dead.   To hunt the evil doctor, he recruits John Caine, an ex-CIA agent whose time in Vietnam gave him his own close-up view of evil. Seeking the Angel of Death in the jungles of South America, Caine discovers a sinister conspiracy code-named Starfish and realizes that Mengele is only the beginning.

The Producer's Daughter


Lindsay Marcott - 2013
    Twenty years later, her daughter Hannah is released from prison after stealing a hundred thousand dollar necklace -- a crime she did not intend to commit. Resolving to change her life from wild child to purposeful young woman, Hannah begins to uncover secrets -- involving both high Hollywood financial stakes and the startling history of her own family.

The Shadow of William Quest


John Bainbridge - 2014
     A mysterious stranger carrying a swordstick walks the gaslit alleys and night houses seeking vengeance. A man determined to fight for justice against all the wrongs of Victorian society. Who is the secretive William Quest? Following Quest's trail from the teeming streets of London to the lonely coast of Norfolk, Inspector Anders of Scotland Yard is determined to uncover the truth. This exciting Victorian thriller takes the reader into the sinister hinterlands of Victorian London as the hunter becomes the hunted. Then to the wild and lonely countryside of Norfolk for an exciting denouement.

Candlelit Madness


Beth Byers - 2019
     Welcome to a very flapper evening! Are you ready for the roaring twenties? For spunky young women crafting their own lives? If so, you’ll love Violet, Julia, Edwina, Hettie, Ro, and Lola. Inside, you’ll find several short stories with adventures, cocktails, kisses, and fun. With stories from The Violet Carlyle Mysteries, The Piccadilly Ladies Club Mysteries, the Lola Star series, as well as the brand-new Hettie and Ro Adventures. For fans of Carola Dunn, Jacqueline Winspear, Georgette Heyer, and Lee Strauss. A light, cozy mystery with a fun peek into a an evening with bright young things.

Twelve Miles From Rome: A Lucius Marius Nola Mystery


Steven J. Kears - 2015
    Lucius Marius Nola, a retired veteran of the Roman Army, inherits a farm in the Alban Hills on the outskirts of Rome. Nola is looking forward to a new life in the countryside, living off the land, and more importantly, escaping his violent and disturbingly troubled past. However, no sooner has Nola begun to enjoy life once again when, against his will, a strange turn of events draws him into a web of murder and intrigue. 'Twelve Miles From Rome' is the first of a thrilling series of ancient world mysteries featuring Lucius Marius Nola.

Dream Singer


Frank O. Smith - 2014
    As a young man, he possessed the rare gift of dream singing – the ability to see the future, but lost it through a selfish act. A seemingly chance crossing of paths with a thirteen year-old runaway boy who has witnessed a murder in a railroad dramatically changes both their destinies. Part love story, tragedy, and mystery, Dream Singer is a story of the betrayal of love, and the quest for redemption, where listening to dreams and the spirit of the land is vital to Elijah and boy staying ahead of the killer – and staying alive.

The Kremlin's Vote


Andrew Turpin - 2021
    . . Two top US officials are gunned down while visiting London. A trail of deception misleads the CIA. And former intelligence operative Jayne Robinson is viciously targeted during a high-risk foray into Russia.Robinson, previously a long-term MI6 officer, is covertly deployed by the CIA in a deniable operation to handle one of its biggest assets in the Kremlin and to get to the bottom of a threat that seems likely to engulf the White House—just as the next presidential election looms.The mission becomes deeply personal for Robinson when it emerges one of the victims is married to one of her best and oldest friends.But nothing is what it seems in this vortex of deception and deceit. As she gets closer to the truth behind the killings, Robinson finds herself challenged to the core while fending off threats from unexpected directions.

Succession


Steven Veerapen - 2020
    She has yet to nominate an heir.The crown looks set to fall to James of Scotland.But it is far from inevitable.Gowrie, a sinister Scottish traitor, has arrived in England. On him is a document containing a shocking secret that will compromise King James.Languishing in prison, artful thief Ned Savage is freed by his patron, the queen’s principal secretary, Sir Robert Cecil. His mission is to find the document before it can be made public. If he succeeds, his life will be spared.But he is not alone in seeking Gowrie.On his trail are a ruthless gang of conspirators. The Red Cross Plot aims to prevent any foreigner from taking the English throne. And the Knights of the Red Cross will kill to secure the document.In a journey that will take him from London to Derbyshire and Scotland, Savage must foil the Red Cross Plot, protect King James’s darkest secret, and keep himself safe from execution.And he must do it all before the curtain falls on Elizabeth’s reign.

The Kennedy Rifle


J.K. Brandon - 2012
    His claim triggers years of research by his son. As a court-certified expert on firearms and ballistics, Michael Cole writes a book about a second Dallas assassin and the weapon likely used. Cole is ridiculed, his reputation nearly destroyed. Finally, with the death of his father and the passing of five decades, Cole abandons his search for the truth. Meanwhile, his book attracts some unwanted attention from those originally involved.One day a woman comes to his office with killer looks and an unbelievable story. Kate Marlowe says she has proof of a JFK assassination conspiracy, that her uncle was bodyguard and driver for the assassin on the Grassy Knoll. After JFK's murder in 1963, he drove to Arizona to lay low and hide the sniper rifle. Now near death, he confesses his crime and the rifle's location to her. Go get the rifle, he tells her. Show the world what really happened. Kate travels to Arizona to enlist the help of Michael Cole and locate the true assassin's rifle.Before they can find it, rumors surface of the Kennedy Rifle and a mysterious auction on the fiftieth anniversary. Billionaire collectors, criminal arms-dealers, and coup d'etat participants join the hunt. Some want the truth, some want the truth buried, but all want the rifle...and Kate and Cole dead. Thanks to the miracle of Kindle publishing, this is a modified version with additional new material and a different ending from the original release.