A Set of Lies
Napoleon has been defeated and packed off to St Helena. Or was he? This Alternative History novel explores the possibility that a British agent organised a scheme to keep Napoleon alive in exchange for secrets and information about Britain’s many other enemies that only the former Emperor would know.
In the present day, a student finds some artefacts in the attic of the family home on the Isle of Wight and calls for help in the form of a handsome young man with the qualifications to investigate and all the right contacts. Added to the mix are an irascible professor, a crooked MP, a totally dysfunctional family and a trail of clues that lead to the truth and their far-reaching effects.
The story flits between the 19th Century and the present day in a clear and coherent manner and I enjoyed this venture into the ‘what if’ but I do have a couple of minor quibbles. These being: the essence of the ‘secret’ was assumed far too early making the research of the investigators fit the theory rather than finding the facts and making a discovery, and the need for rather a lot of coincidences to make the plot hang together.
However, the tale is well written, the cover bright and attractive and Carolyn McCrae has pieced together a fine and interesting novel.
