I was very excited about reading this book, and have to say that the experience lived up to expectations almost entirely, if I could I would give it a 4.5 as it doesn't quite make the grade for a 5 star book. It is a very well executed thriller/crime novel set in an alternative history similar to that found in Robert Harris's Fatherland. Despite Jo Walton usually writing SF or Fantasy books this is very much not either, it is instead a strongly set historical fiction, simply set in a history that thankfully never actually happened. Set almost a decade after Britain managed to arrange 'Victory with Honour', by coming to peace terms with Nazi Germany; this starts out as a typical whodunit with the murder of a house guest at a stately home. It soon becomes clear that there are darker motives behind the killing than first suspected; the story descends into political territory as it becomes clear that regime change is on the way. The narrative is split between the rather naive Lucy Kahn, daughter of one of the new political elite; and Inspector Carmichael, the Scotland Yard detective sent to investigate the crime. Both have their eyes opened to the true nature of Britain post the 'peace', and it is a rude awakening for both of them. I really enjoyed reading this, and found the period details and imaginings of a pro-fascist parliamentary make up to be well done. I have two niggles with the book; one was that the comparisons between the central plot and the Reichstag fire were maybe made a little too forcefully. I do understand that not everyone who read this would necessarily have made the link, but for those of us who did then ramming it down your throats seemed a little unnecessary. The second gripe is that there was maybe a little too much reliance on stereotypes for minor characters; some of these did feel a little flat from time to time. However, the story itself came together really well and I am looking forward to reading the other two books in the series.