In a great English house, a young woman offers herself to one of the most powerful and influential figures in the land – but this is no ordinary seduction. She plans to ensure his death . . .

On holiday in France, Professir Tom Wilde discovers his brilliant student Marcus Marfield, who disappeared two years earlier to fight in Spain, imprisoned in a camp near the Pyrenees. Wilde secures his release just as German tanks roll into Poland.

Meanwhile, a U-boat sinks the liner Athenia in the Atlantic. Many – including Americans – are drowned. The Nazis claim Churchill blew up the ship to blame Germany and lure America into the war.

As the various strands of an international conspiracy begin to unwind, Tom Wilde will find himself in great personal danger. For just who is Marcus Marfield? And where does his loyalty lie?

Series: Tom Wilde, 3
Genre: Crime, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Publisher: Zaffre (24th January 2019)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars)

Nemesis is the third book in Rory Clements fantastic Tom Wilde series. I hadn’t realised this book was out until I stumbled across it during the London Bookshop Crawl back in January. The story begins with Tom Wilde on holiday in France, where he discovers an old student of his imprisoned in a camp near the Pyrenees.  Of course Wilde cannot leave him there, so he cuts his holiday short to return with his ex-student back to England just as things start to gear up for war. With the war looming ever closer on the horizon, Wilde starts to ask some very important questions.

I have been looking forward to devouring this book since I saw it on the shelf, and Mr Clements did not disappoint me. This book was everything I have come to expect from one of his novels in the Tom Wilde series. The tenseness of the read is definitely helped by the dates, as you know as the reader that World War II is looming ever closer despite the characters hopes that it will not come to pass. Nemesis is a quick read, and easy to devour even without having re-read the previous two books in a while.

I really enjoyed the way Clements built the tension of the coming war, the way we as a reader could see it start to creep into life at Cambridge. I also appreciated the way Clements uses Wilde’s dual nationality to highlight the different thoughts and attitudes between the UK and US at the time. It was really interesting. Although it wasn’t a main feature of this book, I really like how the relationship between Tom and Lydia is written.  And of course I enjoyed the return of a few familiar faces; it was nice to find out what had happened to them since the events of Nucleus.

There are three main threads to this story, all of which are closely interwoven: Tom and Lydia’s relationship, the mysterious Mr Marfield, and the looming war. As always in this series, Clements is a fantastic storyteller. He does a great job of entwining the narratives, and at the same time bringing alive the tension of the approaching war and all the questions that brings. As with previous books in this series, I enjoy the way Clements intermingles fact and fiction. The story’s conclusion is well done and very realistic. I’m curious to see where Mr Clements goes with future books in this series.