Publisher: Ballantine: London, 1980
In this intricately plotted and atmospheric thriller, England is invaded and defeated by Germany in 1941. London is in shock. The King is a catatonic, semi paralysed hostage in the Tower of London, the Queen and Princesses have fled to Australia, and Churchill has been executed by a firing squad after leading a last ditch defense of the Scottish highlands.
Meanwhile ordinary British are being deported to work in German factories and the SS is in charge of Scotland Yard. Daily life is a creepy waking nightmare of German uniforms, German made goods and bureaucratic regulations. A mix of collaborators and profiteers makes London even more sordid and menacing.
Suave Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer ("Archer of the Yard" as the press like to call him), is trying to maintain a peculiarly British institution under a Nazi chief. Archer has started work on what seems, at first, a routine murder case. But suddenly an SS officer from Himmler's personal staff flies in from Berlin to supervise the investigation, and Archer soon finds himself involved with the Free British underground (who hate him for working under the Nazis), with the treacherous relationship between the SS and the German army,
Deighton, with his descriptive mastery does an excellent job of luring you along with his premise; and instead of building the somewhat implausible fantasy situation, he just takes it for granted and, dropping a tantalizing pseudo-historical detail here and there, dives right into a police investigation.
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