Quentin Margont, now promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, has come to the perhaps unwelcome attention of Napoleon’s brother Joseph. One of the Colonels, whose task it is to defend Paris, has been found murdered, his face burned away; and it is going to be Margont’s duty to discover whodunit. In order to do this he must go undercover and disguise himself as a Royalist, pretending to support everything he abhors the most. Further to this he must join and infiltrate a group of aristocratic plotters and pass himself off as one of their number...

After two books concentrating on battles, here is a third title dealing with a different aspect of life under Napoleon that culminates in the Battle of Paris. M Cabasson does not merely tell a tale, but has the all-too-rare talent for immersing the reader in the period and what it was like to have been there, wherever "there" happens to be. His tangible descriptions of people and places, battles, military encampments, sacked cities and occupied palaces make the books seem wonderfully immediate and well realized. He tells it warts and all, neither flinching from details nor savoring them, thus giving a well-rounded picture. In this novel the onus is on deception and subterfuge, as Margont has to assume the identity of somebody he would himself despise. This is a whodunit with perhaps a little more detecting in it than in earlier titles and less military action, doing what all good series of any kind need to do, which is to offer the reader some variety. Whether you enjoy military fiction, straight history or historical whodunits there is something for everybody in this highly impressive and recommended series. Do read it in order however for maximum enjoyment as this is as much a serial as a series of standalones, starting with The Officer’s Prey (Amazon US || UK) and Wolf Hunt (Amazon UK).