Lilacs Out of the Dead Land
From the beginning of this page-turning novel, Jones captivates the reader. In this, the seventh of Jones’s widely acclaimed Viennese Mystery Series, the writing is almost flawless. Jones harnesses sights, sounds and character sketches with matchless skill to immerse the reader in an unfamiliar and dangerous world.
Taken from T.S. Eliot’s famous poem ‘The Wasteland’, the title sets the tone: ‘April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land’, hinting at determination in the face of hopelessness. The story is set in Austria shortly after the first of Hitler’s land grabs, the Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938. Jones’s knowledge of the politics and geography at that time is remarkable. The two lead protagonists, Frieda von Werthen and Franz Hruda, have evidence that Hitler is clinically insane and will continue to seize territories while the rest of Europe pursues futile attempts to seek appeasement through diplomacy. As the novel progresses, a romance develops, which is truly ‘a lilac out of the dead land’. The Gestapo and SS are charged with destroying evidence that would alert the world to Hitler’s goal of world dominance, a mission they pursue with vicious relentlessness.
Frieda and Franz have one goal: to share their evidence with the Allies and to prevent a world war, and the Nazi pursuers have one goal: to prevent this from happening. At each dramatic plot twist, the reader is left with uncertainty as to who will prevail. Even though we all know that war is inevitable, Jones has left the reader guessing, right up until the last pages, whether they have succeeded or failed. I highly recommend this novel to all readers who love a fast-paced thriller as well as readers of World War Two dramas.
