British sleuth Patrick Dawlish is led on a merry chase through a maze of danger in this World War II mystery from the Edgar Award–winning author.
 
Known to navigate any situation with an uncanny calm and confidence, Captain Patrick Dawlish has become the go-to man for not-so-official investigations. He’s been pulled from his regiment before with very little notice, so he’s not surprised when he’s ordered to embark on another top-secret assignment. Only this one stays top-secret for far too long . . .
 
The mission is so important that Dawlish’s friends, Ted Beresford and Tim Jeremy, are also given leave to order to assist. But when the three men arrive at their destination in Salisbury, their meeting is unceremoniously canceled. Two of their contacts are killed, one is in the hospital, and one has disappeared. All Dawlish knows is that those involved have something to do with post-war reconstruction. Fumbling about in the dark, with assailants at every turn, it becomes all too clear that knowledge can be dangerous—and the thirst for knowledge even more deadly . . .