The City of Lies

Dublin 1940.

An IRA attack leaves two guards dead on the streets of Dublin. Two days later, a battle between warring gangs erupts at a race meeting, and on Ireland's east coast the cremated bodies of a wealthy family of five are found in their shuttered, burned-out villa.

Dispatched from Special Branch to investigate, Detective Inspector Stefan Gillespie soon finds himself caught in a web of Irish, British and German Intelligence - all playing against each other, all watching each other, and all plagued by rogue operators they can't quite control, as the certainty grows that Hitler is about to invade England.

And then, Stephen is sent to Berlin on a sensitive mission. His journey home becomes a dangerous pursuit in which no one can be trusted and the information he carries puts his life on the line.

After a successful career as a television writer and producer, working on such series as A Touch of Frost, Midsomer Murders and Between the Lines, Michael Russell decided to write what he had always wanted to: books.

The City in Darkness is the third of his Stefan Gillespie stories of historical crime fiction, taking a sideways look at the Second World War through Irish eyes, and exploring some unexpected corners of the conflict, such as Danzig, New York and, in The City in Darkness, the cities of Franco's Spain. The first two Stefan Gillespie novels, The City of Shadows and The City of Strangers were both shortlisted for Crime Writers' Association awards.

Michael lives with his family in West Wicklow, in Ireland, not a million miles from Stefan Gillespie's home.

Website: michaelrussellforgottencities.com

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Twitter: @forgottencities