The Violinist’s Secret

M.J. Hollows

FOR years, Hamburg University student Charlotte Weber has watched the insidious rise of the Nazis who now control every aspect of life in Germany... and when she gets the chance to work as a double agent, she is ready and willing to subvert the regime that she has grown to hate.

After the success of his bestselling wartime novels, The German Nurse and The German Messenger, M.J. Hollows (pictured below) returns with The Violinist’s Secret, a hard-hitting, heart-thumping spy thriller set in the strategically important city of Hamburg, and starring a young woman who uses her cover as an orchestra’s violinist to infiltrate the Nazis’ inner sanctum.

Tingling with danger and suspense, and featuring a perilous cat-and-mouse game that puts Charlotte and her friends in mortal danger, Hollows’ gripping novel includes many plotlines based on real events and explores some of the terrible atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis. At the heart of the story is Charlotte who, with a German father and a Swedish mother, is the ‘child’ of two nations and as such is not viewed as fully Aryan by those in authority in Germany in 1939. But she is a conscientious student at Hamburg University, regards herself as ‘a good German,’ and has a passion for music and playing the violin.

Her father died several years ago and with war on their doorstep, her mother Linnea has returned to her native Sweden while Charlotte shares a flat with her friend Hilda in the city. Their lives are centred on their studies and they have a close circle of student friends who visit regularly.

The outsider of the group is Kurt, Charlotte’s boyfriend, who is from a wealthy family and eager to marry her, and although his parents treat her like their own child, Charlotte is not sure of Kurt’s political views and whether she can live up to his family’s expectations.

When her friend and fellow violinist Greta fails to meet up for a violin practice, Charlotte goes to her apartment and is horrified to find her body inside. The police declare that Greta’s death is a suicide but Charlotte knows that it’s murder. Desperate to discover who killed her friend, but not knowing where to turn, Charlotte is approached by Nazi spies who recruit her to their ranks.

Caught up in the middle of the Nazi web, Charlotte is determined to use her position to undermine the regime and find out the truth about Greta once and for all. But as the horrors escalate, and she witnesses first-hand the brutality of the Gestapo, Charlotte uncovers hidden truths within her closest circle of friends, all of whom have something to hide... something that would put them directly in the Nazis’ firing line.

Intrigue, romance, deadly danger and the terrifying realities of living under the dark shadow of Nazi rule spring to vivid life in this gripping spy adventure which focuses on a young woman who must dance to the Nazis’ tune if she is to save both herself and her friends. In a world of espionage where ‘even a word spoken in haste could cause problems,’ and increasingly unsure of who she can trust, Charlotte’s life in Hamburg makes her feel ‘more shut-in and claustrophobic’ with the passing of each perilous day.

Knowing that the Nazis could decide that her dual citizenship rendered her ‘not German enough,’ and trying to stay invisible whilst delivering secret messages in the city’s clubs and bars, the young spy’s path was always going to be full of danger... but as the risks become greater, the tension mounts to boiling point. Chilling, thrilling, and packed with edge-of-the-seat drama, The Violinist’s Secret will have readers hooked from start to finish!
(HQ, paperback, £9.99)