Stefan Gillespie works in law enforcement in Dublin. Ireland is a neutral country but both the British and the Germans circle round each other and Gillespie is charged with watching both sides. In a remote house a family group of four is found dead and Gillespie is asked to look into the murders. He finds a German radio and is concerned that there may be a link to a Nazi spy ring involving the IRA. Before he can investigate further Gillespie is given a mission to act as a diplomatic courier to Berlin where he finds that neutrality is no protection for Irish citizens as the German atrocities are beginning.
This is the fourth book in a series about Stefan Gillespie and the first that I have read. This made for some difficulties as there is a lot of backstory from previous outings that is not fully explained, eg. Gillespie is a fluent German speaker and has some German connections. The plot itself is rather disjointed. One part concerns the Nazi/IRA actions in Dublin and the multiple murders (apparently a true story), the other the link to the Nazi treatment of homosexuals and the disabled in Berlin. Despite all of this I found myself really enjoying the book as Russell is a convincing writer. ( )