Operation Vienna

In a city on the brink of ruin, a single spark could ignite acontinent.Vienna, 1931.When a wealthy American is found dead in a burning car in the ViennaWoods, police quickly dismiss it as suicide. But ambitious foreigncorrespondent Esme Carmichael is tipped off that it was murder. Shesummons historian Archie Laverick to the Austrian capital, where - stillscarred by the Great War and under the guise of researching a famedgeneral - he plunges with Esme into a perilous hunt for the truth.Their investigation cuts through the glittering façades of a fragilenation. As the catastrophic failure of Austria's largest bank threatensto throw Europe into chaos, Archie and Esme must untangle a web ofillicit affairs and stolen identities, navigating the treacherous,gossip-fuelled world of Vienna's elite journalists to unmask a cunningkiller hiding in plain sight.Praise for Michael Ridpath:'Ridpath has that read-on factor that sets bestsellers apart" TheGuardian'It is the author's insight that gives his novel so much life. Andhe can write... Yes, he has a winner here' The New YorkTimes'For sheer entertainment, there's nothing in the mystery genre tobeat a well-constructed thriller... ...the new book of Michael Ridpathprovides a master-class in how it's done{::}. I read it in onegulp' The Observer'As slick and compulsive a piece of storytelling as can be found inthe best of blockbuster fiction' Sunday Express

In a city on the brink of ruin, a single spark could ignite acontinent.Vienna, 1931.When a wealthy American is found dead in a burning car in the ViennaWoods, police quickly dismiss it as suicide. But ambitious foreigncorrespondent Esme Carmichael is tipped off that it was murder. Shesummons historian Archie Laverick to the Austrian capital, where - stillscarred by the Great War and under the guise of researching a famedgeneral - he plunges with Esme into a perilous hunt for the truth.Their investigation cuts through the glittering façades of a fragilenation. As the catastrophic failure of Austria's largest bank threatensto throw Europe into chaos, Archie and Esme must untangle a web ofillicit affairs and stolen identities, navigating the treacherous,gossip-fuelled world of Vienna's elite journalists to unmask a cunningkiller hiding in plain sight.Praise for Michael Ridpath:'Ridpath has that read-on factor that sets bestsellers apart" TheGuardian'It is the author's insight that gives his novel so much life. Andhe can write... Yes, he has a winner here' The New YorkTimes'For sheer entertainment, there's nothing in the mystery genre tobeat a well-constructed thriller... ...the new book of Michael Ridpathprovides a master-class in how it's done{::}. I read it in onegulp' The Observer'As slick and compulsive a piece of storytelling as can be found inthe best of blockbuster fiction' Sunday Express