Quick moving espionage book.. story line keeps your interest, Likeable carachters.

One of the best books this year. It is historically accurate, smoothly written, has deep and interesting characters, and provides suspense and thrills on a continuing basis as the plot unfolds. It takes place in the interesting period just before the beginning of World War II, in and around mid Europe and the Adriatic Sea. Bad guys include Croatian and Italian gangsters, and Nazis. Everyone seems to want to kill an English orphan, and he doesn't know why. His survival depends on the good graces of a number of unlikely characters. Action continues through many twists, making the book impossible to put down.

Fun romp of a thriller through pre-WWII europe. The characters are fun and the action is crisp. The locations are fun.

This book is amazing- well written and paced! Read in one sitting! Mills' books have always been a favourite and this is up there with my favourite The Information Officer! The character of Luke has so much potential for a follow up! I wait for Mills' next book- fingers crossed for Luke to appear!

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical thriller set in Europe just before World War 2.
It opens in an English orphanage where an elderly nun encounters an intruder who is seeking information about the whereabouts of one of the orphans.
We then move to Paris and meet the main protagonist of the novel, Luke Hamilton, who is working at the British Embassy. He is preparing to attend the funeral of an elderly nun who has been murdered- it seems he is somehow linked to the opening of the book. In the midst of his preparations to return to England an assassin tries to kill him and with the help of the mysterious Borodin Luke is launched across Europe in a race for his life.
En route he meets Pippi, a German people smuggler who helps Jewish refugees escape from Germany to Switzerland. With her help he sets out to find out what is going on and why he is being pursued. Is it a case of mistaken identity as it first appears or is there more to it.? Is it somehow connected to his foundling past and subsequent adoption? Luke really knows nothing of his origins as he was left on the steps of an orphanage as a baby.
As the pair move through Europe trying to stay alive and work out what is going on the reader is catapulted into 1930s Germany and Italy where Fascism is taking hold and the world seems to be moving closer to war.
The plot is fast moving and the backdrop of Europe heading towards war lends an urgency to the narrative. The reader is keen to find out the mystery of Luke's origins and when all is revealed about two thirds of the way through the book there is a hope that all will work out for him at the end of the story. However much is to happen before we reach the end and find this out.
I enjoyed the mystery of the plot but equally the period detail interested me too. In a way it reminded of an old fashioned historical thriller such as The Thirty Nine Steps!
Once I started reading it I found it hard to put down and continued reading until all was revealed at the end. In fact the ending left me hoping to learn more about these characters and I wondered if this book could be part of a series in the future.
If you like historical thrillers or books by Robert Harris or William Boyd I suggest you give this a go. You will not be disappointed.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful atmospheric novel in the years pre WW2 ,a tale of loyalty and revenge skilfully told with great locations described perfectly. The nostalgic air of times gone by and a style of writing perfectly in tune make this an entertaining use of time. Recommended!

Really exciting - the stakes are high and the anomalous operators in the thriller just before second world war are mysterious, and adept in some cases - even our main figure, an orphan grown to be a foreign diplomatic unknown to himself... there were really violent scenes but barred sometimes, and we were kept at respectful distance (as when an adult important to Luke, the orphan, is killed for information it is clear that nothing holds his enemies back even if they do not know why: she was the favorite nun who raised him in the orphanage - the ending is a surprise twist too and a good friend, and potential girlfriend, is left wondering - really good!

It was a dark & stormy night.….no, really. Late one evening in 1912 Sister Agnes answered a knock at the door of St. Theresa’s Orphanage. The first thing she saw was a shadowy figure standing in the distance. The second was a baby boy left on the step. Maybe that’s why she & the newly christened Luke went on to develop such a strong bond. Even after he was adopted, she continued to be a fixture in his life as he grew up.

By 1937, Luke is working as a minor intelligence officer at the British Embassy in Paris when he gets the news. Sister Agnes has been murdered. Luke is devastated & has no idea her death is a harbinger that his easy life in Paris is over.

He meets the mysterious Borodin who warns Luke his life is in danger. But who is he & why does he want to help? Before Luke can figure it out, he & Borodin are on the run after several attempts on their lives. Luke ends up on the Swiss-Austrian border where he meets Pippi, a woman dedicated to helping Jews escape from Germany. The fallout from their adventures only makes his situation worse but it also provides some shocking answers to how he ended up at the orphanage.


Ooooh lawdy, this is a humdinger. It all kicks off when powerful men in another country stumble across a 25 year old secret. There are multiple narrators so at times we know more than Luke. Or do we? All of these people have personal agendas & are driven by self preservation. They change their stories like their clothes & it’s impossible to know who to trust. It’s clear early on that Luke’s real identity is at the root of all the mayhem & it’s a harrowing ride to the truth.

The author makes effective use of the era as a backdrop to the primary plot. Hitler is beginning to flex his muscles & there are ominous rumblings about the treatment of German Jews. As the action moves through France, Austria, Switzerland & Italy, it feels like all of Europe is holding its breath in the prelude to WWII. This creates a subtle underlying tension that adds to the suspense of Luke’s story.

Although few of the characters are actually spies there’s a definite espionage vibe to the story. The major characters are well developed & Luke is a sympathetic leading man. Multiple twists & double crosses keep you guessing who will survive as the characters converge at the final destination.

By the end, all Luke’s questions are answered & there are hints that a sequel may follow. It’s a fast paced, entertaining story that holds your attention. Fans of period thrillers, particularly those by John le Carre´ or Robert Harris, will find much to enjoy here.

This was a fast paced thriller that kept me up all night reading. The characters are well conceived and multi dimensional.

Someone is trying to kill Luke Hamilton. Why would anyone think Luke, a minor diplomatic attaché in the British Embassy in Paris, 1937, worth the effort to kill? He is a very nice, well-educated young man who does his job efficiently, but he holds no state secrets, has no lurid love affairs worthy of murder. Still, someone very professional is trying to kill him. Could it have something to do with the tragic event in England where Sister Agnes, his mentor and guardian at the orphanage where he was raised until he was adopted by the Hamiltons, was brutally murdered? Who would want Sister Agnes dead? Who would want him dead?

If Luke wants to stay alive, he needs help and it comes from a very unexpected source, his would-be assassin. Because of a casual remark Luke made about the horrors depicted in Picasso’s Guernica, his life is spared and instead of being a victim he becomes the ally of Borodin a notorious contract killer. Why did Borodin spare him and warn him of future dangers? It was a serendipitous fact that Borodin was moved by the vile acts depicted by Picasso in his masterpiece and something that may have been dead in his soul stirred to life. When the young man he was stalking expressed the same sentiment he was feeling, Borodin let him live. It was a whim.

And so Luke finds himself on a wild run from Paris to Venice where Borodin assures him that the truth behind his birth will be revealed along with the enemies out to destroy him. Along the way he is joined by a beautiful young woman, part of a network already secretly fighting the fascists in Europe. They have to kill in order not to be killed and Luke must face a heart-breaking betrayal before he finds safety again with his adopted parents.

This is a very entertaining and cinematic chase novel with enough danger, intrigue, romance and exotic settings to satisfy the most discriminating fan of the genre.

This is set up for a sequel and I will certainly read it.

The year is 1937 and Luke finds out Agnes, the nun who cared for him when he was a foundling, has been brutally murdered. In Paris at the time, he is forced to flee for his life, without any idea as to why. Borodin, a contract killer hired to kill Luke, changes his mind inexplicably and warns Luke to run to Germany, where he meets Pippi, the woman who will eventually change life as he knows it.
The novel gives you a marvellous sense of Europe before WWII, lots of adventures and a delicious mystery: who is Luke, where did he come from?
A welcome respite from serial killers and technology, this novel really satisfied my nostalgia for old world Europe.
Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and Mark Mills for the eARC.

I read Savage Garden some time ago so it took me a little while to adjust back into Mark's narrative, and getting to know the characters, but after 30 or 40 pages I was in and the pace was fast and furious which allowed me to devour the book quickly.
The adventure sees a RAF intelligence officer based in Paris get mixed up in a supposed mistaken identity situation, the pace picks up and doesn't really let off from the moment of the meeting in a restaurant and doesn't end until some days (and dead bodies) later in Italy.
A really good insight into life across Europe in the 1930s in the build up to World War 2. You warm to the characters quickly and I found myself quickly thinking of who could play Luke and Pippi on the big screen or TV drama of this.
I really enjoyed Where Dead Men Meet it is a little different to my usual reads, but after how much I was surprised by how much I liked Savage Garden, I knew that this wouldn't disappoint.

Thanks to the publishers for my free copy in exchange for my review.

This is a somewhat complicated thriller that has fast scenes with a lot of background that does slow the pace of the story at times.

We begin the mystery with the murder of Sister Agnes, a kindly middle aged nun working on an orphanage. And lets be honest, is there any better way of starting a mystery than with the death of a good nun? Then we are introduced to Luke Hamilton, working for the UK embassy in Paris despite his not having 'typical' English looks. Luke was adopted by his parents from Sister Agnes' orphanage and was very close to her, making her death quite the blow. Then we are introduced to Bernard Fautrier, one of the main characters in the book who apparently saves Luke's life from not one but two assassination attempts. It is then revealed that Luke isn't who he thought he was, yet nor is it possible to be sure of who he might be and finding the truth might take all the courage he has. This leads to a story that takes place in several cities across central Europe. New characters are introduced and dispatched at high speed. There is a romance storyline but it is subtle and not the central theme of the novel.

Set in the turbulent times of 1937, there is some historical knowledge in the book to underscore the story. Luke becomes involved with a group smuggling Jewish families out of Nazi Germany, the war in Spain and the rise of Stalin in Russia are all touched upon, but not a great deal of detail is given apart from the basics.

If you can suspend belief that an amateur can outwit professional assassins and the like, this is a very entertaining read.

(Lengthened review to come shortly... Stay tuned...)

Where Dead Men Meet is set in 1937. War is on the horizon, and Europe is full of nervous anxiety. Luke Hamilton, a young British air force intelligence officer in Paris, is shocked to find himself the target of an assassination attempt.

Initially, he believes the attempt to be a case of mistaken identity, but that misconception doesn't last long. Finding an unlikely ally in Borodin (one of the hit men originally targeting him), Luke ends up on the run. Borodin sends him to a woman who has been helping Jews escape from Germany, but his welcome doesn't reassure him, and Pippi has a grievance against Borodin.

Fast paced, this prewar thriller kept me on edge. A little convoluted with all of the mysterious backstory, but a suspenseful romp across Europe during a dangerous time.

Read in Jan.; blog post scheduled for May 14, 2017.

NetGalley/Blackstone Publishing

Suspense/Historical Fiction. May 30, 2017. Print length: 448 pages.

Nice title, but what does it actually mean? I suppose it conjures up an image of a gritty thriller and, if so, then that is what the reader gets. Mills’ novel is a curiously old-fashioned adventure story, filled with twists and turns and lots of action over a wide geographical canvass. Set in 1937, the world is gearing up for war, but the core of this story lies much deeper in the past, in Austro-Hungarian Croatia.
Luke Hamilton, the central character, a foundling child, now working for RAF Intelligence in Paris, finds himself the target for a series of European assassins. Why? That is what he has to find out, while remaining alive long enough to do so.
This is high adventure, well written, but all rather implausible. Others have compared the plot and setting to Greene and Ambler. There is a superficial resemblance, but Mills does not attain the heights of either. Where he does succeed is in drawing a number of very sympathetic central characters who make reading the novel a pleasant experience throughout.

A rollicking good thriller set in pre-war (1930s) Europe

It is 1937 and Luke Hamilton, a twenty-something Englishman, is working at the British Embassy in Paris. Luke is a foundling, left at a convent when a baby by a mysterious man and raised by the nuns, particularly Sister Agnes.

He hears that Sister Agnes has been murdered and endeavours to go back to attend her funeral in England. Before he can leave Paris, however, there is an attempt on his own life and he is forced to flee.

He is sent to Konstanz, on the German side of the border between Germany and Switzerland. He has been given a contact there, Pippi, and soon becomes embroiled in the anti-Nazi activities there. All the while, he is attempting to discover his own identity.

Mark Mills has written several novels set in the mid twentieth century, and, if this book is any indication of the style of the others, then I shall be reading them before too long. He sets the scene well, and draws the reader into the various characters.

Luke comes across as a very sympathetic “hero” in the book and copes well with the danger he seems to be thrust into constantly. As with all thrillers, the reader has to take a leap of faith that the author stays just on the right side of believability. Mills accomplishes this, just.

I read a kindle format of this book and one major source of irritation was the complete absence of capital D, G and K throughout the book. Thus, Germany became germany etc. I thought I would get used to this and dismiss it, I didn’t. Hopefully the printed books will be correct, and future kindle editions will have been corrected.

That fault hasn’t affected a deserved 4 star rating for the work.

Mr Bumblebee

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Looking for a little jaunt across pre-World War II Europe? Want a few thrills along the way? Then this is the book for you. “Where Dead Men Meet” reads like a spy story with lots of action and suspense. Luke is an RAF pilot who has been grounded and is stuck behind a desk in Paris. Pippi is a young woman, who along with 2 thugs, is smuggling Jews out of Germany. Ivan is an aging hitman whose job is to kill Luke, until he has a change of heart. Throw in some German military officers and a mysterious adoption story and the bullets soon start to fly.

Spy stories aren’t my usual thing but this one sounded like a good one and I was not disappointed. I took an instant liking to Luke and then to Pippi, and even though their first meeting was less than ideal, you could tell these two liked each other. Luke has a very mysterious past and suddenly it catches up to him and places him on the wrong side of a gun. Ivan has a suspicion about who Luke really is and decides to help him escape the men that are trying to kill him. This proves to be easier said than done. I was particularly impressed with the author’s descriptions of the various villages and cities where the story takes place. This story has lots of interesting twists but none of them feel contrived. There’s bad guys, and good guys, and some for whom it’s hard to tell. Bottom line: this is a great story that I highly recommend.

Luke Hamilton, our hero, is a British Officer thrust into an suspenseful historical adventure tale set in the early 1900's of Europe. The murder of a beloved guardian sets Luke on journey where he becomes the target of assassination due to a dark past of which he must unravel. Along the way he meets an unlikely cast of interesting characters, including Pippi Keller, a reluctant companion in his treacherous path where stakes are high, nothing is as it seems, not everyone can be trusted and the possibility of war looms in the background. Mark Mill's has a strong hand at storytelling and whether you are a fan of historical fiction or not, 'Where Dead Men Meet' is an intriguing read. High recommendation.

A nice old fashioned, in a good way, thriller set across Europe just before the Second World War with a host of well drawn characters.

Gripping book. Had me drawn in from page 1
Will recommend

Mark Mills had me from the first sentence of Where Dead Men Meet. “Had Sister Agnes been less devout, she would have lived to celebrate her forty-eighth birthday.” Well, Jeez.

This is one of what I call extraordinary-ordinary people books. You know, everyday guy is just living his life and then, out of the blue, all these experts at espionage, crime, murder, and mayhem are suddenly after him and through pluck and luck, he somehow lives to fight another day. This is exactly that kind of book, but it avoids the usual requirement that we suspend all disbelief by providing him with some help in the form of an unlikely guardian angel and an extraordinary-extraordinary woman who is cleverer and more capable than he.

Luke Hamilton is our ordinary guy, a British Air Force pilot stationed in pre-war Paris after running into trouble with a woman in Afghanistan. He visits Guernica and is moved by the painting and falls into a strangely intrusive conversation with another man who is there. The man, Borodin, has been hired to kill him, but recognizes something in Luke that makes him hesitate. He soon decides to save Luke, though that will be difficult because there are several killers on his trail. After a fracas or two in Paris, now Luke has the French police on his trail, too.

Borodin sends him to safety, if safety is the fire after the frying pan. However, he does meet Pippi who is all kinds of competent and smarter than most, certainly quicker than Luke. Things move apace and now he not only has French Police, but some Nazi soldiers as well. So, let’s just add the British army and the Italians for good measure. Luke pretty much makes a big circle of Europe picking up new folks on his trail, leaving bodies (usually not of his doing) and learning more about himself than he ever suspected.

There is also a love story, the burgeoning romance between Luke and Pippi. It’s very much a fade-to-black affair, surprisingly chaste for a book full of so much murder and violence. It’s funny how much more squeamish people are about sex than violence. We have a nun beaten to death, some waterboarding, shootings galore, and nothing more sexual than a kiss before they wake up in the morning. Not that I am complaining, people trying to be inventive when writing about sex can sound ridiculous, but I just can’t help notice how much more comfortable we are with violence.

I spent the day in the library of PNCA, a library filled with beautifully illustrated art books, but I was glued to Where Dead Men Meet. It is just one firing pan after another with frequent fires in between. It does stretch credulity to the snapping point, the success with which Luke and Pippi escape from more trained, skilled, and experienced agents of one sort or another, even with the occasional intervention of their guardian angel Borodin and his cherubim.

The mystery of Luke’s real identity is central to the story and I am eternally grateful he was not some lost Romanov. I confess my first reaction when I realized this was a secret identity story was a loud groan fearing that would be the story line. I am so glad it was much more inventive than that.

I liked Where Dead Men Meet. I liked the characters, though sometimes Luke needed a kick in the rear. Luckily, Pippi was there to give him those much needed kicks when he was ready to pack it all in. I like that they made a point of developing a plan and then trying to tear it apart to see where it could fail. I liked that they weren’t suddenly efficient killers and made mistakes. There are a few times the foreshadowing is a bit too revelatory. For example, when Borodin gives Pippi a heads up when they separate for the last time, I knew that there was another enemy in addition to the Croatian crime bosses. I appreciate, though, that when they went to Italy, they did not run to their hidden enemy to seek his help all unaware, avoiding the ultimate thriller cliche of the bad guy soliloquizing his entire plan before some miraculous intervention saves the day.

The writing is clear and direct with a strong narrative drive. Mills succeeds in creating a vivid sense of place, but this story is more about pace and action than mood. It is almost cinematic during the scenes of intense jeopardy, all the action is there in your mind’s eye. If you like thrillers with people who are confused and at sea, but competent and proactive. you will enjoy Where Dead Men Meet .

Where Dead Men Meet will be released on May 30th. I received an advance e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

This is a finely crafted traditional thriller in the style of John Buchan's The Thirty Nine Steps. The characters are complex and in particular the shadowy figure Borodin gives an intriguing edge. An enjoyable holiday read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for an advanced review copy.

A superb adventure thriller. Mark Mills takes you on a rollercoaster journey peppered with elements of espionage, secrets and lies. Set in 1937 Luke Hamilton is preparing to attend the funeral of , Sister Agnes, the nun who had looked after him when he was abandoned at the orphanage. She had been murdered and Then an attempt is made on Luke's life causing him to take flight and go on the run. Is there a connection? The story meanders and veers across Europe leaving you wondering where the plot will lead you next. Who is Luke? Why is he in danger? Who exactly is his enemy and why? Who can you trust? Will there be a positive outcome for him?These are all questions you will ask as you career along with him on his epic journey. A thriller that drags you in, grabbing your attention and keeping you gripped all the way through.

This novel was a fun, exciting read! Check out my review at https://bigbaldbooks.wordpress.com/2017/06/19/review-where-dead-men-meet/

In Mark Mills' deft cat-and-mouse game of a thriller, Where Dead Men Meet (Blackstone Audio, digital galley via NetGalley), someone is trying to kill Luke Hamilton. Or it could be a case of mistaken identity in 1937 Paris, where Hamilton is assigned to the British Embassy. He is grieving at the news of the murder in England of Sister Agnes, the nun who took him in as an abandoned baby 25 years ago. Readers already know Sister Agnes' murder is connected to the attempt on Luke's life, but it is the appearance of the mysterious Bernard Fautrier who warns Luke he is in real danger.  The race -- to escape the killers and to find out their motives -- takes Luke to Nazi Germany, to neutral Switzerland, to enigmatic Venice. There are moments of exquisite tension, although the resolution of the main mystery comes a little too early. Still, complications ensue as table turns. Revenge is cold and deadly. -- from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever