Winter in Madrid. C. J. Sansom. 2016.

1940: after the Spanish Civil War, Madrid lies ruined, it’s people starving, as Germany continues its relentless march through Europe. Britain now stands alone, while General Franco considers whether to abandon neutrality and enter the war.

Into this uncertain world comes Harry Brett, a traumatised veteran of Dunkirk turned reluctant spy for the British Secret Service. Sent to gain the confidence of old schoolfriend Sandy Forsyth, now a shady Madrid businessman, Harry finds himself involved in a dangerous game - and surrounded by memories.

Meanwhile Sandy’s girlfriend, ex-Red Cross nurse Barbara Clare, is engaged on her own secret mission - to find her former lover, Bertie Piper, a passionate Communist in the International Brigades who vanished on the bloody battlefields of the Jarama.