This book took me a while to get into but once the pieces started to come together I had trouble putting it down. Set mainly in Cambridge at the outbreak of WW11 with references to the Spanish Civil war 1936 - 1939 and the Communist/Nazi conflict of ideas.Tom Wilde, the main character is a university professor whose not confined by the rules of the professional investigator. The adventure starts for Tom Wilde while on holiday in France when he's told that one of his student is in the Le Vernet concentration camp and needs help. The plots and subplots keep the story moving and the reader interested. It is well written and easy to read, however there are elements of violence.This is the first Rory Clements book I have read but hopefully not the last.