Shortlisted for the inaugural SpyMasters Book Prize 2025
The follow-up to the acclaimed The Year of the Gun and the fourth book in 'a great new series' (Mick Herron, author of Bad Actors)

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SPYMASTERS BEST ESPIONAGE NOVEL OF 2025, ALONGSIDE THE PEACOCK AND THE SPARROW BY I.S. BERRY AND GABRIEL'S MOON BY WILLIAM BOYD

'With action sequences worthy of Lee Child, this is historical crime-writing at its best' Mail on Sunday

'A great series' Mick Herron

***

1914.

Sherlock Holmes has been murdered.

Nobody knows who did it, but Wiggins, former Baker Street irregular and Holmes' protégée, suspects a German spy.

However, Europe is descending into the chaos of the First World War, and Captain Kell of Military Intelligence has limited resources, and more pressing matters on his mind.

Wiggins is on his own as he pursues Holmes' killer across the continent. But as grief and rage close in, it's not just the killer that eludes his grasp .

'Lyle's great strength is in his depiction of time and place; from its stinking tenements, where babies cry from hunger, to its sinister docks and upmarket brothels, the Edwardian city - then still part of Britain - is brought to life in all its squalid, magnificent glory' FINANCIAL TIMES

'Impressive period detail and sharp dialogue add charm to the strong plot' DAILY MAIL

'Full throttle . delivering entertainment in spades' IRISH INDEPENDENT