Willing Victim

“A slow-burning but accomplished murder mystery . . . a disquisition on the seductive attractions of unquestioning faith” from the author of The Wrong Man (Independent).

It’s 1956 as the 4th Inspector Stratton mystery opens. The world is in turmoil—the Bikini Atoll, the Suez Crisis, the Hungarian Uprising—these are just some of the events Inspector Ted Stratton can’t help but think about as he makes his way through a murder investigation. The murder victim is a young man in London whose bookshelves are filled with literature on spirituality and esoteric religions, and who had just recently left the Foundation for Spiritual Understanding, a New Age cult based in Suffolk. Traveling to Suffolk to investigate, Inspector Stratton encounters a community of fervent believers led by an enigmatic, charismatic leader, and a femme fatale with a shady past. As well as a twisty murder mystery, A Willing Victim is a portrait of England in the mid-fifties and a meditation on the dangerous power of faith.

Praise for the Inspector Stratton series

“Laura Wilson is an exceptional talent . . . A terrific police procedural, a mesmerizing historical novel—few writers working today can deliver this kind one-two punch.” —Laura Lippman, New York Times bestselling author

“Outstanding . . . Wilson convincingly evokes what it was like to sleep in a bomb shelter or stumble through shattered London streets in the dark. The characters are convincing, too.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Wilson is as adroit at the straightforward mechanics of the crime mystery as she is at evocative prose shot through with a keen sense of the past.” —Independent