Book Review – Invitation from a Dictator by Rory Clements @VikingBooksUK #20BOS26

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About the Book

On the eve of war, a royal guest is lured into Hitler’s deadly web…

Munich, 1937. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor have arrived in Germany for a historic meeting at Hitler’s mountain retreat.

But recent attacks by ruthless Communist band, Red Freedom, has brought fear and bloodshed to the area. As brutal as the Nazis, their next targets are Edward, Wallis and the Fuhrer himself.

Detective Sebastian Wolff is charged with their protection, but the conflict between his job and his politics becomes even more complicated when Wolff realises who is behind Red Freedom: Ulrike, his first love and the mother of his son.

Format: Hardcover (400 pages) Publisher: Viking
Publication date: 13th August 2026 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

I was a fan of Rory Clements’ John Shakespeare series, I’m a fan of his Tom Wilde series (present tense because I hope we get another one soon) and I’m now a fan of this series featuring Berlin detective Sebastian Wolff. Invitation from a Dictator follows on from Munich Wolf and Evil in High Places but don’t worry if you haven’t read either of those because the opening chapters provide some useful background information about the main characters and events to date.

A rather gruesome discovery sets Sebastian Wolff and Sergeant Hans Winter, initially seconded from the Gestapo to keep track of Wolff’s movements but now an ally, on the trail of Red Freedom, a Communist group opposed to the Nazis but just as capable of ruthless acts of violence. As always Wolff’s determination to bring culprits to book brings him up against some old adversaries in the Gestapo, two men who are more interested in arresting someone for the crime even if it’s not the perpetrator. After all, once in their hands for a few hours a person is likely to confess to anything.

Wolff is frustrated to find his investigation brought to a halt and assigned to the security team for the visit to Germany by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, a visit which will culminate in a meeting at Berghof, Hitler’s alpine retreat near Berchtesgaden. Wolff’s suspicions are aroused by two individuals, one of whom is dismissed as nothing more than a fanatical Royalist. The other? Well, let’s just say Wolff’s detective instincts tell him something’s not right. The proof of that comes when he has a very narrow escape.

The author is particularly good at creating seemingly disparate storylines and then bringing them together in a satisfying way. He does exactly that in this book. There’s also a great melding together of the professional and the personal, the fictional and the factual. For example, Wolff and his partner Hexie are keen to start a family but have met with no success as yet, although not for the want of trying. When they learn of an abandoned child that may be suitable for adoption they get a terrifying insight into a sinister Nazi programme and Hexie also realises her family history may make her a target for something even worse. She also has a chilling up close and personal encounter courtesy of her friendship with former colleague, Eva Braun. Yes, that Eva Braun.

Being set in 1937, we know what’s coming but of course Wolff doesn’t. However he has a growing sense of foreboding. ‘All pretence of open justice, fair play and democratic rule had long since been swept away. In his own life, he was trying to bring killers to court to protect the people of his beloved Germany from the forces of evil. But he knew he was fighting a losing battle.’ He’s even disgusted at himself for some of the things he’s had to do in the course of the investigation.‘ Was he totally lost? Was he becoming one of them?’

His failure to join the Nazi party has already earned him the hostility of his superiors. Only the fact Wolff’s uncle is a man of influence is keeping him in his position, even out of prison or a much worse fate. How much more can Wolff take? Let’s hope there’s another book that will answer that question.

Invitation from a Dictator is a terrific historical thriller with a gripping plot, great period detail and a constant sense of jeopardy. It would be perfect for fans of the late Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther novels.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of Viking via NetGalley. Invitation from a Dictator is book 13 of my 20 Books of Summer 2026.

In three words: Compelling, dramatic, authentic
Try something similar: A Death in Berlin by Simon Scarrow

About the Author

Rory Clements writes full time in a quiet corner of Norfolk. He was raised all over the world while his father served in the Royal Navy, an experience that went on to inspire Rory’s beloved historical thrillers. Previously a journalist for various papers, he is now a Sunday Times bestselling author, two-time winner and three-time nominee of the CWA Historical Dagger Award. His books have sold over 1 million copies to date.

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Book Review – Where Are the Kings by Donal Ryan @DoubledayUK #20BOS26

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About the Book

Something terrible has happened to Jack but no one seems to want to talk about it.

His uncles can tell him about everything from quantum physics to how to hunt for deer, but they can’t seem to tell him anything about their own sister or why Jack doesn’t feel sad for her in the way he should, or why Grandad tries to shoot Jack’s dad when he gets out of the hospital.

Still, there’s work to be done in the oily wonderland of his uncles’ garage; there’s his beautiful aunt Rose to hypnotise him and his loving grandparents to console him; then there’s JJ, who wants to fight him one day and save him the next.

But with so many questions, in a family with so many secrets, it is difficult for Jack to understand the person he is becoming. How can a simple boy learn to become a king?

Format: Hardcover (224 pages) Publisher: Doubleday
Publication date: 13th August 2026 Genre: Literary Fiction

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My Review

Twelve-year-old Jack’s life changed forever the day his mother died in tragic circumstances. With his father no longer on the scene, it’s left to his mother’s family to welcome him into their home. His Nana and Grandad, aunt Rose and three uncles – Haulie, Theo and JJ – are trying their best to support Jack in his grief, the extent and nature of which even he is struggling to understand or express.

The Connells are a wonderfully messy, idiosyncratic and at times unruly family but theirs is a home filled with love. Nana rules the roost and Grandad is the first to defend his family in any situation. Jack’s uncles Haulie and Theo run a garage, servicing and repairing cars whilst engaging in almost non-stop, often earthy but frequently hilarious, banter and entertaining Jack with tall stories. (Anyone who’s read any of Donal Ryan’s previous novels will know he has a real gift for dialogue and capturing the rhythm and lilt of an Irish accent.)

Although he is Jack’s uncle, JJ is not much older than Jack and initially their relationship is fractious, especially since they are forced to share a bedroom. Things are also complicated by Jack’s adolescent attraction to his aunt Rose which often provokes embarrassing and inconveniently timed physical reactions.

What I found particularly moving about the book is how Jack feels he must suppress any outward expression of grief, unaware that in fact it is more apparent than he realises. And he is burdened by constant feelings of guilt. Heartbreakingly, he believes it is something like a betrayal of his mother for him to feel moments of happiness. ‘He’d tell her he was sorry for being so happy all the time. No, not happy, exactly, but not sad either, not thrown down roaring crying the way he’d have thought he would be if he were to imagine being where he is now, back before it all happened, before the lake and the funeral, and the changed world.’

As we know witnessing traumatic events can have strange effects on the mind. In Jack’s case, every now and again fragments of events leading up to his mother’s death rise to the surface. He can’t make sense of them all, they don’t form a complete picture until, of course, they finally do. What he realises then is that his is a family with many secrets.

Where Are the Kings is a poignant exploration of grief through the eyes of a child, written with insight and gentle humour.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of Doubleday via NetGalley. Where Are the Kings is book 11 of my 20 Books of Summer 2026.

In three words: Tender, intimate, moving

About the Author

Donal Ryan, from Nenagh, County Tipperary, has published seven number one bestselling novels and a short story collection. He has won several awards for his fiction, including the European Union Prize for Literature, the Guardian First Book Award and six Irish Book Awards, and has been shortlisted for several more, including the Costa Book Award and the Dublin International Literary Award. He has been nominated for the Booker Prize twice.

His most recent novel, Heart Be at Peace, won the Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, the Orwell Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the Nero Book Awards. His work has been adapted for stage and screen. He teaches Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.