A Lily of the Field (Inspector Troy Thriller Book 7)

Lawton is at the top of his game taking us from pre-war Vienna to Los Alamos and the race to develop the A-bomb to Auschwitz and the collapse of the Third Reich. Inspector Troy plays a smaller but vital role in bringing all the story lines to a thrilling and satisfying conclusion.

I've now read four books by John Lawton and I've thoroughly enjoyed each one. This one "A Lily Of The Field" I thought to be exceptional. His descriptive writing is so engrossing, you really DO get a feel for the time period and the way it must have been then. Lawton must at least be a student of music if not a practitioner. Only one well versed in so many aspects of the art of making music could take the reader on a journey like this with so much music actually wrapped up in the story line. From the young cellist Meret Voytek's first meeting with her mentor the brilliant Viktor Rosen, to the jazz clubs of post-war London and references to Johnny Dankworth and Ronnie Scott and their bands, he spins a serious mystery thriller that has all of the intrigue and suspense one could wish for. I could go on and on about this book but I'm afraid I would spoil it for someone ...so.... Get the book settle into a comfy chair with a glass of your favorite wine and be carried along on this great journey. 5 BIG stars from me, and of course I now have to read everything that John Lawton, one of my new favorite authors has ever written.

John Lawton creates an existential mystery in "A Lily of the Field." Yes, ultimately his Inspector Troy is working on a murder case, but setting up the death is the Anschluss of Austria in 1938 and even earlier days of life in Vienna. The story has great bits of philosophical thought and even appreciation of classical music. It is not what I expected; it is way more and I will investigate his writing further.

I'm reading all of Lawton's work over the last few weeks and liking all of it. But liking and being stunned by excellence are two different things. Truly an amazing novel, one that follows several threads during the World War II era and slowly, carefully and beautifully brings them together. Exciting, exacting, thoughtful work. If I could give it more stars than five I certainly would.

After reading first two novels written by Rebecca Cantrell in her Berlin series, I desperately needed something to cleanse my palate. Her pedestrian, cardboard books, and then this treasure written by the master of the historical mystery, John Lawton. He masterfully brings back the old days and his vivid, colorful characters seem like old friends. Of course, writers of this caliber aren't usually very prolific. But when they do honor us, their books are like precious gifts.

John Lawton has a fine eye for the pre and post WWII period in London but I read his books for the police procedural aspects rather than the period detail. More than half this book goes by without a mention of a murder or sign on an inspector Troy to investigate it. I found the same thing with "Second Violin." Fine books for detail of their period (both are circa WWII) but the mystery is missing for most of the book. The two are books are also companions in that they follow many of the same charters from Nazi Germany into England and beyond.

I was enraptured through the whole book, I couldn’t put it down for any amount of time, I kept coming back for more and more...I thank you so much for writing this book....it was exciting

I highly recommend the entire series and also recommend that they be read in order. Even though the books are not chronological, some characters, mentioned in passing, are given a much more thorough treatment in earlier books, and knowing this background adds to the enjoyment.

The first half of this novel is, on the whole, rather splendid. We are in Austria, shortly before the 1938 Anschluss. Cello and piano prodigy Meret Voytek begins lessons with concert pianist (and keen cellist) Viktor Rosen, and falls wildly in love. Meanwhile Meret's scientist cousin Karel Szabo, worried about the political situation, decides to emigrate to Britain. Lawton then takes us through the troubled times in Vienna from just before the Anschluss to 1945, with additional chapters detailing Szabo's adventures in internment camps and, as a brilliant physicist, working on Robert Oppenheimer's team developing the first nuclear bombs at Los Alamos. We learn how Viktor fled to London as a refugee, and how Meret decided to stay behind with her family in Austria, and nearly survived the war, only - despite her not being Jewish - to be rounded up and sent to Auschwitz in 1944 due to a misunderstanding. The novel follows Meret through her time in Auschwitz where she is forced to play her cello to save her life, and her escape afterwards, when she is saved by the Russians. But liberty at Russian hands comes at a price...So far, so engrossing. There's the odd howler - the Kreutzer Sonata by Beethoven is for violin and piano, not cello and piano, and I doubt a virtuoso pianist would be equally happy teaching cello to concert performing standard, even if he was a fine cellist too. The affair between Karol Szabo and the strange Zette Brugge (can't remember if the name is right?) felt rather peremptory, and I think we could have done with more insight into Viktor and Karol's politics. Also, I believe very few women of good family learnt trombone in the 1930s. But leaving these quibbles aside, it's a rather thrilling read that evokes the period and its different factions well, and with some stunning descriptions. The relationship between Meret and Viktor is also potentially fascinating.And then we get to Part II and the narrative all goes to pot. The action shifts to London, and most of it is told from the point of view of Lawton's recurring character Inspector Frederick Troy. Troy, a bit like Elizabeth Speller's Lawrence Bartram, is a profoundly boring figure - an aristocrat blessed with virtuoso skill on the piano (classical and jazz), he should be interesting, but he comes across as dull and wooden. And, far more than Bartram, he takes the whole plot with him, as the story collapses into a soulless ramble, with innumerable mentions of cars (how many times do we need to know Troy's mother owns a Lagonda), trips to pubs and a lot of waffling chat between the police officers. There's a weird subplot about a female doctor called Anna who's worried about the NHS (its creation, which one can't help feeling is somewhat selfish) and might be having an affair with Troy, and her one-legged war-hero husband who spends each day drinking himself silly. There are a lot of characters with excruciatingly conveyed 'funny accents' (Troy's Russian mother and rather a lot of Cockneys, while Meret speaks in a broken English that fluctuates between near incoherence and almost native proficiency). It takes ages from the crime committed - a man pushed under a train - to get back to Meret and co and by that time my interest was flagging mightily.Even when we get back - sort of - to Meret, Viktor and the others the story never regains its former promise. Troy and Meret appear to leap into a close relationship from virtually nothing, while Viktor barely features, and Karol Szabo only turns up again at the end. The spy dimension (SPOILER ALERT) is ridiculous - if someone was able to communicate messages by inserting wrong notes into a piece they performed in a concert, wouldn't audiences have started to complain about their innacuracy as a performer?! (I'm not sure you could just change the Debussy Cello Sonata with no one noticing, incidentally.) What happens to Meret feels increasingly ridiculous, and Karol's motivation remains extremely vague. And as for the scene where Troy is attacked by three or four nasty Czech crooks and manages to kill at least two of them at a blow - this was verging perilously close to farce.When I started this book, I thought I'd found a new Le Carre. I closed it, I'm afraid, with a determination to read no more in the Inspector Troy series.

The Troy series is outstanding and, whilst maybe not essential, I think it is worth reading it in chronological sequence, rather than publication sequence; the chronological sequence is: Second Violin; Riptide; Black Out; A Lily Of The Field; Old Flames; Blue Rondo; A little White Death.I think it is interesting that the books were published (and, presumably, written) out of chronological sequence and wonder if this was done to allow the author to avoid the continuity gaffs which occur in many book series – knowing where or how he wanted key characters to end up, he could subsequently create a back story to match – the only continuity issue I noticed was about Troy’s piano at Goodwin’s Court.There is a murder whodunit in each book but the series is about much, much more than that: the changes in society and attitudes from the 1930s through to the 1960s; national and international politics, from pre Second World War to the Cold War and Suez; spies and the Security Services; Special Branch; the hypocrisy, vices and double standards of the establishment; the internment of enemy aliens.There are some superb characters, including Alexei Troy, Uncle Nikolai, Tosca, Stanley Onions, Kitty Stilton, Kolankiewicz and, especially, Troy himself.Troy is not a sympathetic character; he is a sociopath and immoral, amoral or of a very different morality; he does not have difficulty with indulging in incest, adultery, murder or blackmail; he believes that the end justifies the means, that the law does not apply to him and that lying is always a better option than telling the truth – makes for a fascinating read.

Once again John Lawton produces an hugely enjoyable novel. The latest in the ongoing 'Troy' series, despite the fact that he does not appear until the second half of the book.The first half, covering events in pre-war Vienna through to the liberation of the death camps is, as usual, well researched, well written and a joy to read, developing new characters and reintroducing a couple of old favourites from the previous books. Having said that, you don't have to have read any of the previous novels as any 'back story' needed is explained to the reader.The second half, when Inspector Troy makes his appearance is equally as good, from custom made pistols, potato silencers, the appearance of well known historical figures, the interplay with seemingly minor characters and further appearances from old favourites, it's a wonderful read that engages you and paints such a vivid picture it is not difficult to imagine Anna and Troy speeding off in the 12 litre Lagonda.Espionage, crime, intrigue and social commentary, they are all here in this book - a truly excellent work of fiction.The 'Troy' novels are a joy to read, the only problem I have is that they don't appear that regularly, but, if you want quality like this you have to put up with the wait.Truly wonderful story.

A worthy member of the Troy canon, although perhaps not one to start with: much of Troy's backstory is taken as read, and indeed his shenanigans and foibles are less to the fore than usual.The main interest of the novel, for me, lies in its clever interplay between fact and (historical) fiction, as in A Little White Death (a reading of the Profumo affair). Here Troy finds himself investigating a murder and the events in its wake which have to do with Soviet spies in England in the early 1950s. Yes, of course: Guy Burgess does make a cameo appearance.Lawton as usual exploits his skill in the use of wry irony, as characters and their circumstances now well known are revealed in the novel not through the unfolding of events, but through Troy's super-sensitive reading of the situation.Another special pleasure is Lawton's undoubted mastery of writing about music.Happily, if rather surprisingly for Troy fans, our hero manages to contain his sometimes egregious sexual urges in this one.

There is a quote on the front of this book citing John Lawton as being one of the "hidden treasures" of spy writing. I can only agree. His Inspector Troy series (of which this forms part) are wonderful examples of period writing in the vein of the (also wonderful) Philip Kerr and indeed the master Le Carre.Whereas other novels have been published out of chronological sequence, this one fits in nicely, with the first part of the book starting before the war (and almost following the last published instalment  Second Violin ) and concluding some years after the war.The first part of the book builds the story, with the rounding up of various groups into concentration camps accross Europe - in this part there is very little mention of our hero, Mr. Troy, and I must admit to wondering how the story would evolve into a "typical" Troy novel. However, this first part is merely scene setting, and wonderful character building, as what follows in the second part draws not only on the effects of the Second World War, but also the sense of foreboding with the commencement of the up and coming Cold War, and the clashes which took place between the East and West.A wonderfully told and perfectly balanced novel, which moves at a good pace, is difficult to put down, and could be read as a stand alone book (if you have no expereince of the Troy novels) or as a perfect compliment to the series; as a number of the characters who appear in earlier published novels are explored further (particularly one of Troys lovers, Larrissa Tosca). Second Violin

These books draw you in --- i think it's a lot to do with the mix of 'famous' people Troy (the police) meets: Guy Burgess among them ... but also his personality in confrontation with women is so appealing despite his obliviousness - there is a layer of psychopathology I've always thought to him ... the story begins in the ast and its inegnious ploy is really amazing but i dare not give it away ... really a special number in this series ..

I found the start of this book, ensuring Lawton got all his future characters in the right place at the right time, was yawningly boring and I wasn't sure I even wanted to continue but it did brighten up when Troy appeared. However, there was sloppy editing and proof-reading - I do not expect 'who's' to be used instead of 'whose'.

This is the first John Lawton I have read and despite this being being several books into the 'Inspector Troy' series, it was absorbing, intelligent and hard to put down. A book of two halves, an espionage thriller and a detective procedural, the plots are cleverly intertwined over a period from pre WWII Vienna to Cold War London. It is an excellent stand alone novel and when with regret having come to the end of this novel, I have immediately searched for and ordered the first novel in the series 'Black Out,' so I can read more of the back story and more about the characters! The characters are well drawn and the period research is thorough. The kindle version I read has a glossary by the author, where he details fictional variations of true life events for those with more than a passing level of knowledge of the period and who might be irritated by obvious deviation. Excellent and highly recommended.

'Addictive as crack' it says on the cover, and though I've never tried crack, John Lawton's writing certainly has me addicted, and high as a kite with each reading.This more easily followed than most novels, more obviously constructed around specific, well-researched real happenings; Troy himself playing his part only through the latter half of the book. No matter - I could not put it down. Thank heavens, several more of his yet to read.

The whole series of Troy books is the most riveting and moorish series of books I have had the pleasure to read and reread.

I found the first part of this book a little heavy going. I couldn't come to grips with the style of writing. However I persevered and it all seem to change when I got to part two. It felt like the book had been written by two different people. Having said that I did find the story gripping and it became hard to put down. To be fair I'm probably not a great reader of spy novels but I will more than likely see if there is a book by the author that will suit my tastes.

Have read all the Inspector Troy books and found this one amongst the most gripping.

The first half of the book is a fascinating story of life in Vienna before WW2 and the strife suffered by families as Hitler invaded. The second half is much more of a spy thriller but you know the background and motivations.I see it's part of a series but I didn't feel at a disadvantage from not having read any other Inspecor Troy novels. I probably will pick up some more of this series but this one will take some following.

If I could give this more than five stars I would. John Lawton's knowledge of the Shoa, of London during the Second World War and the Cold War and of music adds up to an irresistible cocktail. Add to that, an extraordinary cast of East End policemen and scallywags, of posh Establishment figures and a fascinating central character in Freddy Troy, this is the highlight of a truly magnificent series.

Great writer, really enjoyed the Troy series