Cirrus@Austlit

'Major Clement Wisdom of the Secret Intelligence Bureau is in Sydney, Australia to learn Morse Code and its Japanese equivalent, Kana Morse. But when a fellow student from the college is found dead and another missing, Clement begins to suspect espionage. While assisting the local police, Clement uncovers a network of enemy spies, fuelled by long held resentments and treacherous greed. In May 1942, three Japanese submarines entered Sydney Harbour. Their intention was to destroy the USS Chicago and as many other Allied ships in port as possible. Or was there another reason…The fifth in the award winning Clement Wisdom Series.' (Publication summary)

'In late 1941, the Pacific is a very different place from only one year earlier. Japan threatens and vast numbers of Imperial Army spies have infiltrated throughout the Pacific Islands in readiness for conflict.

'Just as he is preparing to leave Australia and return to Britain, Major Clement Wisdom is seconded to lead a small guerrilla force. Their mission: to secure a vitally important person in Singapore and take him, and the secret he carries, back to Australia.

'While enroute to the island bastion of the British Far East Fleet, Clement learns that Malaya, Singapore, and Pearl Harbour have all been bombed and war is declared.

'With no up-to-date intelligence on the volatile region, and leading a group of men he barely knows, much less trusts, Clement's orders leave him with no option but to proceed. His fears are compounded when one of his men dies in an apparent suicide and it seems likely that there is an enemy spy on board; one who will kill to evade discovery and who is motivated by that oldest of reasons; revenge.' (Publication summary)

'Invasion threatens and fear hangs in the air. Some yearn for peace and an end to the relentless Nazi bombing. Others are spurred on to fight for victory, no matter the cost. And some will manipulate a divided country for their own ends. On a winter’s night, a German spy parachutes into the Cambridgeshire fenland while another man is secretly murdered in the same field. Is he another enemy spy or has he been sent to his death? Either way, a killer lurks.

'Major Clement Wisdom of Special Duties Branch of the SIS is sent to discover the dead man’s identity and almost immediately uncovers a sinister network of conspiracy where kidnap, murder and revenge threaten not only the safety of the country but Clement’s life.' (Publication summary)

'Britain 1941. Still reeling from the greatest loss of his life, the Reverend Major Clement Wisdom is called on again to serve his nation in its time of need. Under the cover of taking up a new parish in far northern Scotland, Clement is sent to the remote village of Huna, in Caithness, to locate a possible enemy agent who is sending out encrypted radio messages.

'Arriving in the depths of winter, Clement quickly finds it isn’t only the temperature that is unnervingly cold. Perched on the edge of Great Britain, the isolated community is wary of strangers. Struggling to gain trust from the locals and where even his assigned Government contact, the local Postmistress, is antagonistic, he becomes entangled in a web of silence. When the husband of his contact is found dead, the body horrifically impaled on a shard of window glass, Clement is at first unsure if it is an unfortunate accident, or a gruesome warning. As more deaths are uncovered, Clement realises he is facing not only an enemy spy but a ruthless killer. With limited time, Clement must act quickly, and, if necessary, alone.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'September 1940. Britain stands alone facing an imminent Nazi invasion. Handpicked groups of men form the covert Auxiliary Units; ordinary by day, they will be saboteurs and assassins by night. With a life expectancy of two weeks, their identities are a closely guarded secret from all but the local senior policeman but once activated, that policeman will be the cell's first victim.

'Clement Wisdom, a humble vicar and leader of the East Sussex Auxiliaries, receives the invasion alert and assembles his team. Burdened with the tension between his faith and his patriotic duty, he sets out to eliminate the Police Inspector, only to find him dead already. While assisting Lewes Police to find the Inspector's killer, events take an ominous turn as one by one, members of Clement’s team are found callously murdered. Priorities shift and every aspect of life is called into question when Clement becomes embroiled in the murky world of espionage, where nothing is what it seems.

'In Spite of All Terror is the first in a series of crime thrillers that mix historical fact, crime fiction and superb characterisations. They will keep you hungry for the next piece of this wartime puzzle.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.