NetGalley – Page 5 – What Cathy Read Next…

About the Book

The closer you get, the further you have to fall…

Munich, 1936. All eyes are on the Bavarian capital for the upcoming Olympic Games. As athletes fight for gold and the Nazis fight for power, Detective Sebastian Wolff faces a battle of his own.

A famous actress has disappeared and Wolff has been ordered to find her, fast. But Elena Lang is no ordinary she is the mistress of Joseph Goebbels – Hitler’s right-hand-man in the party that Wolff despises.

But this is a country on the brink of war, and corruption runs deep. In a search that will take him from high society to the city’s darkest corners, Wolff will soon learn just how fine the line is between justice and jeopardy…

Format: Hardcover (416 pages) Publisher: Viking
Publication date: 28th August 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller

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My Review

Evil in High Places sees the return of Sebastian Wolff who hates what Germany has become under the Nazis (surely the epitome of evil in high places) but whose sense of justice compels him to continue in his role as Captain of Detectives in the Kripo. ‘He didn’t like the present government, but that wasn’t unusual. His job was to solve crimes and bring murderers to court; their politics meant nothing to him.’ It’s not essential to have read the previous book, Munich Wolf, to enjoy this one as the author includes salient details about Wolff’s past. In fact he continues to flesh out Wolff’s back story including events from his younger days.

At times Wolff struggles to conceal his hatred for the Nazi regime and those who hang on its coat-tails such as vile Hitler acolyte Unity Mitford. The feeling is mutual in this case and you suspect she’d like nothing better than to see Wolff transported to Dachau. (He had a taste of that in the previous book.) The expected Heil Hitler salute is always something of an effort for Wolff and done only for necessity. His professional life is made more difficult by having a boss who’s more interested pleasing his superiors than bringing the real culprits to justice. His view is round up some suspects and interrogate them until they confess. Result: case closed. It’s the exact opposite of Wolff’s approach.

It’s not all rosy in Wolff’s personal life either. His relationship with his son is fraught given Jurgen is a member of the Hitler Youth and It’s not unknown for people to denounce family members for displaying anti-Nazi sentiment. Wolff is engaged to the beautiful Hexie but she’s running out of patience with him for not setting a date for their wedding. To top it all an important figure from Wolff’s past makes an unexpected, and not entirely welcome, appearance.

Wolff soon has more on his plate than just a missing persons case. Under strict orders that nothing, not even suspicious deaths, must disrupt the Winter Olympics (‘Same rule applies – no murders in Bavaria while the Games last’), he finds himself hampered in his investigation at every turn. When he does start to make progress he finds himself in dangerous territory, coming up against powerful individuals who have no compunction about silencing those who threaten them. As he observes, ‘One policeman against the might of Germany’s wealthiest family and the unchallenged power of Himmler’s SS.’ On the bright side – for readers at least – it means we get some exciting scenes and narrow escapes.

Wolff is not the only one taking risks. Sergeant Hans Winter, seconded from the Berlin Political Police, initially to keep an eye on Wolff, discovered unwelcome information about himself in the last book. Something that if made public would scupper his marriage plans, threaten his career and possibly his life. It leads him to undertake a highly dangerous undercover mission, ostensibly to obtain information about a suspect in the investigation, but really to obtain something he would be unable to get on the outside.

Evil in High Places is a terrific historical thriller with a satisfyingly twisty plot, a constant sense of jeopardy and plenty of drama. The period and setting are brilliantly evoked. And there a tantalising hint at the end that this isn’t the last we’ll see of Sebastian Wolff.

I received a review copy courtesy of Viking via NetGalley.

In three words: Gripping, atmospheric, suspenseful
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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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The House at Devil’s Neck by Tom Mead, the latest in the crime series featuring illusionist and solver of seemingly insoluble mysteries, Joseph Spector. My thanks to Eleanor at Ransom PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my proof copy. Do check out the review by my tour buddy for today, Jen at Jen Med’s Book Reviews.

About the Book

A former First World War field hospital, the spooky old mansion at Devil’s Neck attracts spirit-seekers from far and wide.

Illusionist-turned-sleuth Joseph Spector knows the house of old. With stories spreading of a phantom soldier making mischief, he joins a party of visitors in search of the truth.

But the house, located on a lonely causeway, is quickly cut off by floods. The stranded visitors are soon being killed off one by one.

With old ally Inspector Flint working on a complex case that has links to Spector’s investigation, the two men must connect the dots before Devil’s Neck claims Spector himself as its next victim.

Format: Hardcover (288 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 14th August 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

Find The House at Devil’s Neck on Goodreads

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My Review

The House at Devil’s Neck contains all the ingredients of a ‘Golden Age’ crime novel including a host of suspicious deaths, an inheritance and multiple suspects, some of whom may not be exactly who they profess to be. Add an enormous number of twists and unexpected reveals and you have a mystery that will confound every attempt to solve it – unless you’re Joseph Spector, of course.

The author introduces an air of the supernatural by setting the book in a sinister old manor house – the Devil’s Neck of the title – accessible only by a causeway when the tide is right and reputed to be haunted. It’s certainly haunted by its past use as a hospital for soldiers wounded in the First World War, many of whom suffered lifechanging disfigurement. The perfect place for a seance then. This strand of the story reflects the interest in spiritualism at the time with many grieving relatives seeking to make contact from beyond the grave with loved ones killed in the war. Unfortunately this made them easy prey for the unscrupulous.

Spector’s old ally Inspector Flint of Scotland Yard returns, attempting to use Spector’s own methods to come up with a solution to a mysterious and, initially, seemingly unconnected death in that staple of classic crime – the locked room which no-one was seen to enter or leave. Will Spector be impressed with his theory? The reader must wait to see.

I’m not even going to attempt to summarise the twists and turns of the plot, which would be beyond me in any case. All I will say is that the author has outdone himself when it comes to intricate plotting and I pity the copy editor who had to make sure there were no loose ends.

Like previous novels in the series, there’s a chapter near the end which invites the reader to put all the facts together and come up with a solution. (Good luck with that.) There are also footnotes directing you back to the page on which a relevant piece of information appeared. Or more realistically, the pages on which the pieces of information you totally overlooked appeared. If you indentified the culprit, the motive and the means before Spector revealed everything then all I can say is you’re a much, much cleverer person than me. Even if you didn’t solve the mystery, it’s a fun ride in the hands of an author who knows how to keep a reader turning the pages.

If you’re in the mood for a book that evokes those doyennes of the ‘Golden Age’ crime novel Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, then The House at Devil’s Neck is the book for you. Just don’t blame me if your brain is in a spin by the end.

In three words: Ingenious, atmospheric, intricate
Try something similar: Hemlock Bay by Martin Edwards

About the Author

Tom Mead is a Derbyshire author and Golden Age crime aficionado. His Joseph Spector crime novels include Death and The Conjuror, The Murder Wheel and Cabaret Macabre and have been nominated for the Capital Crime Award for Debut Novel of the Year, shortlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown and long listed for the CWA Historical Dagger Award. His short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Best Crime Stories of the Year (edited by Lee Child). His books have been named as crime novels of the year by the likes of The Guardian, Telegraph and Publishers Weekly. (The series has been translated into several languages and is currently in development for screen adaptation.)

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