An avid reader, Stephen's knowledge of Crime Fiction is fairly extensive, with The Golden Age is his greatest interest.
Enticing from the first page, this WWII fiction based on a real-life event is a marvellously woven piece of literary cloth of gold. The superbly crafted characters are fascinating and enthralling - drawing you within the intricate plot.
When the King's brother HRH Duke of Kent is killed in a plane crash the country is stunned. What secret mission was he on? The Duke was an important link in the British War effort, an effective negotiator with connections at the highest level all around the world. Was it just a tragic accident or was his plane targeted and shot down deliberately? The American President wants to know the answer and asks Tom Wilde, a member of the newly formed US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to investigate. Are there survivors of the crash? If there are - will they talk?
On the same night as the plane crash, a junior officer at the Ministry of Defence takes his own life. In a railway carriage he was sharing with Wilde, he confessed to passing classified information to the enemy. He claimed his information had led to thousands of allied lives being lost and that worse was to come.
Wilde has to travel to Invergordon, a military base from where the Duke's plane took off on its final journey. The British Secret Service will shadow Wilde to make sure he gives Washington only what the British want them to know. Even allies have secrets they must keep from each other.
Mr Clements has a real knack for finding real WWII events and creating exciting and riveting fictional plots from these historical situations. His researches and knowledge of the 1930s and 40s are impressive to say the least. His writing is vividly rich in colour and atmosphere. Another wonderfully escapist drama from a top-notch author.
